Magna Steyr plans U.S. plant to meet "Made in America" EV rules

Magna Steyr is the auto industry's session band. Magna supplies car-building services to BMW and Toyota from its Austrian base, like L.A.'s Wrecking Crew did in the 1960s.

No one buying the records realized the gentlemen on the covers weren't playing their own instruments.

Magna, Fisker, which just contracted it to develop the Ocean SUV, and Jaguar, for which Magna builds the I-Pace EV, have an issue.

Under the Biden Administration's new Inflation Act, electric vehicle tax benefits depend on North American manufacturing.

European EVs imported to the U.S. will struggle to compete on pricing with domestic rivals. Magna's possible U.S. facility isn't a great surprise.

"We're going to the U.S. Magna Steyr vice president Kurt Bachmaier told Automobilwoche, via Auto News.

Bachmaier didn't identify where the plant would locate, but he ruled out California. Magna wants to generate sustainable electricity, therefore wind speeds and sunshine hours could determine the location.

Magna Steyr is owned by Canada's Magna International but made in Europe. It presently builds the BMW 5-Series and Z4, Jaguar E-Pace and I-Pace, Toyota Supra, and Mercedes G-Class.

In the past, it created the Aston Martin Rapide and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Fisker Ocean production begins in November in Graz, Austria.