MONTREAL (AFP)--Canadian autoparts manufacturer Magna
International Inc. (MGA), chosen by Berlin to take over auto maker
Opel, said Saturday it wants to build cars by the German company in
Canada.
"We want to build Opel cars in Canada," Magna Chairman Frank
Stronach told The Globe and Mail, without however providing details
of where the vehicles could be assembled.
"I know we can be competitive, I know we can create jobs in
Canada and the United States," he added in the interview with the
daily from Toronto, the eastern Canadian city where he opened his
first auto plant in 1957.
"If we don't change the culture, North America's got no chance
to be in the automobile industry, absolutely no chance."
Stronach said auto makers can be competitive if management and
employees work together and end what he called the confrontational
and adversarial structure that has dominated the industry.
After marathon negotiations brokered by the German government, a
deal was struck early Saturday that sees Magna and its Russian
backers taking over Opel as its U.S.-based parent company General
Motors prepares to file for insolvency.
As part of the deal, Magna would take over 20% of the new
company, which would become Canada's biggest auto maker, while
Russia's Sberbank (SBER.RS) would have a 35% stake, GM would keep
another 25% and employees would secure 10%.