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Magna Hikes R&D Budget by $300 Million
Magna International Inc. plans to increase spending on research and development by $100 million this year and by another $100 million in each of the next two years.
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Magna International Inc. plans to increase spending on research and development by $100 million this year and by another $100 million in each of the next two years.
Magna spent $522 million on r&d last year and $460 million in 2016. The company’s global sales grew 7% last year to a record $38.9 billion, and jumped 21% year-over-year through the first quarter of 2018. Full year sales are projected to top $42 billion.
Magna says much of the extra $300 million in r&d over the next three years will be allocated for next-generation automated and electrified vehicle technologies. This includes a contract announced last month to develop solid-state lidar sensors in partnership with Israel’s Innoviz Technologies Ltd. for future BMW vehicles.
In March, Magna acquired a $200 million equity stake in Lyft Inc. and agreed to work with the ride-hailing business to co-develop an operating system for self-driving vehicles.
Magna says its advanced driver assist system products currently are in more than 100 vehicle models from seven carmakers worldwide. The company employs some 12,000 engineers, including 2,500 software specialists.
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