DELTA TWP. Canadian auto supplier Magna is expanding its Lansing-area presence significantly by opening a new parts plant at the same time it’s asking the state to help finance another facility.
Magna International Inc. today took the wrap off a $75 million, 290,000-square-foot exterior parts plant, called DexSys, on Mount Hope Highway in Delta Township. The robotic paint line and injection molding factory is expected to add about 340 jobs when it reaches capacity, likely sometime next year.
The plant is part of Magna’s exteriors division and affiliated with subsidiary company Norplas Industries. It will build front and rear fascias for the vehicles made at General Motors Co.’s two local assembly plants — Lansing Delta Township, which builds the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia crossovers; and Lansing Grand River, home to the Cadillac ATS and CTS luxury cars.
Gerry Mazzola, the DexSys plant’s general manager, said it is expected to turn out 1 million parts each year for the Detroit automaker.
“They asked us to come here,” Grahame Burrow, president of Magna’s exteriors division, said of GM. “It was a tremendous benefit to GM for us to locate close by” and an opportunity for Magna to grow its business.
GM officials declined to comment.
Magna, which has several other local manufacturing operations, has roughly doubled its Michigan workforce in the last several years, Burrow said. Statewide employment now tops 10,000.
The Delta Township plant employs about 180 now, but that is expected to jump to 300 by the end of the year. At its peak, the factory will be able to support three shifts on its injection molding line and two shifts for paint and assembly operations.
Magna isn’t done investing in Lansing. The Michigan Strategic Fund, an arm of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., today approved a $2 million grant to Magna’s interiors division for a separate plant on roughly 60 acres near the intersection of Creyts and Lansing roads in Eaton County’s Windsor Township.
The $57 million investment would include a 200,000-square-foot facility and 281 new workers, according to the state. The MEDC said Magna was looking at other sites in Ohio and Canada and the grant was requested to help make it more affordable for Magna to build in Michigan.
The plant would make interior doors, floor consoles and instrument panel parts. Windsor Township documents show the parts would be shipped to GM’s two local factories.
The Windsor Township plant is anticipated as a “satellite facility” to a separate interior plant in Howell. A Magna spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment about the company’s plans.
As global competition increases and automakers make better vehicles, Burrow said, the new Delta Township plant can be expanded to meet demand if Magna can land new business from GM or other carmakers.
“The industry is healthy, it’s growing,” he said.
What’s next
Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. is investing in two Lansing-area plants. They include:
DexSys, a new exterior parts plant on Mount Hope Highway in Delta Township. The $75 million, 290,000-square-foot plant includes a robotic paint line and injection molding factory and is expected to add about 340 jobs when it reaches capacity. It employs 180 people now. DexSys will supply General Motors Co.’s two Lansing-area factories — Lansing Delta Township, and Lansing Grand River.
To apply for a job, visit www.magna.com/careers or contact Cardinal Staffing Services in Lansing at 574-4537.
A proposed $57 million interiors plant in Windsor Township. The 200,000-square-foot facility would employ 281 workers who build interior doors, floor consoles and instrument panel parts. Magna has not confirmed the plant, but on Tuesday received a $2 million grant from the state for the project.
