The plant, which will take over a BAIC manufacturing facility in Zhenjiang and will be jointly run by Magna and BJEV, a subsidiary of the BAIC Group for the production of electric cars, will be able to produce up to 180.000 electric vehicles every year.

Already in April BAIC Group and Magna announced, that they will jointly develop a new generation smart electric vehicle architecture for the Chinese market. Its development and production will now obviously be transferred to the joint venture, which will help to support predictions according to which China will have around five million electric cars by 2020.

"These joint venture operations mark an historic milestone for Magna. For the first time we will be providing our customers with cars engineered and built outside our complete vehicle manufacturing facility in Graz, Austria," said Don Walker, CEO of Magna International Inc. "It's a unique capability for Magna, especially with our ability to produce vehicles with conventional, hybrid and electric powertrains, and we are excited to bring it to a market like China where there is tremendous opportunity."