Magna International Inc.

Mark Hogan helped lead General Motors, Toyota and supplier Magna over a career spanning more than four decades.

The British chemicals company, which recently entered the automotive market with its BMW-powered Grenadier SUV, will lean on the Canadian supplier for its engineering and manufacturing expertise.

Automotive supplier Magna International Inc. is planning a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing plant for automotive seating and 500 new jobs in Auburn Hills, Mich., near the Orion Assembly Plant of customer General Motors Co.

While sales have frequently returned to pre-pandemic levels, profits at many auto suppliers remain well below where they were in 2019.

Magna brings new technology to exterior panels that allow automakers to provide a unique style to future vehicles that still reflect car brand recognition.

The auto industry's challenges, from chip shortages to rising inflation, are taking a toll on the dark science of forecasting while suppliers work to keep up with the changes. "A lot of Tier 2, Tier 3, smaller suppliers have thrown contracts out the window and said, 'This is what you've got to pay or you won't get the parts,' " one supplier says.

CEO Swamy Kotagiri says the supplier's content per vehicle is poised to rise sharply in EVs for products such as all-wheel-drive systems, while Magna's new battery enclosures business is forecast to reach sales of more than $1.5 billion by 2027.

Whether promises to improve diversity and inclusion in the auto industry happened as pledged is up for debate, but some officials say many executives are missing the target of having a long-term, sustainable impact on communities

Automotive supplier Magna International is partnering with work force education provider InStride to launch a pilot program that will provide qualified employees access to undergraduate degree programs free of debt.