Nissan pulls the plug on assembly of compact Infiniti vehicle at Magna plant

Magna International has lost its bid to build upscale Infiniti cars for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. at is assembly plant in Austria.
The Ontario-based motor vehicle parts and assembly company said Friday that it has been informed that Nissan now plans to build the future compact Infiniti vehicle in-house.
The two companies had announced a memorandum of understanding last May calling for the Magna Steyr, the company’s plant in Austria, to build the vehicle on a contract manufacturing basis.
“Although we would have liked to see the assembly of Infiniti’s new compact vehicle realized at Magna Steyr, we are pleased that Magna remains an important supplier for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.,” said Gunther Apfalter, president of Magna Steyr and Magna International Europe.
“Nissan’s project team has affirmed their willingness to work with Magna Steyr if future contract assembly opportunities arise, and we look forward to supporting them as needed.”
Magna disclosed the planned deal for building the entry-level Infiniti model in its first-quarter earnings report May 10, describing it at the time as “an important milestone to further diversify Magna Steyr’s customer portfolio.”
It did not put a dollar value on the deal.
Magna is a leading global automotive supplier with 296 manufacturing operations and 88 product development, engineering and sales centres in 26 countries employing about 115,000 people.