BMW will seemingly change the current seats supplier for its BMW X5 and X6 models as pricing issues drove its traditional partner to stray away. In a recent article published by Automotive News, it is reported that BMW will be looking at its long-time partner, Magna International to pick up this role as well, apart from its usual business.
According to the publication, the two sides couldn’t see eye to eye on the tricky issue of pricing and the old provider of seats for the upper-echelon of BMW SUVs, Lear Corp, decided to simply back out of the deal altogether. “We had a great facility and relationship with BMW,” Lear CEO Matt Simoncini told Automotive News “And it’s disappointing when this happens, but we made the conscious decision not to sell at a loss … The BMW business wasn’t making money for us.”
On the other hand, Magna just celebrated the groundbreaking for a manufacturing facility just outside of BMW’s Spartanburg plant in the US, where it will be making seats for specific models. At the moment, all BMW SUV models above the X1 are manufactured in the US at the neighboring plant, which should reduce costs with shipping and, in turn, delivery times. Chances are the upcoming X7 will also be using seats made by Magna as soon as it enters production.
“This is a new chapter in the ongoing collaboration between Magna and the BMW Group, as it’s our first seating business award with this valued global customer,” Magna Seating President Mike Bisson said. At the same time, the Austrian company has three other facilities around the Spartanburg hub, providing various parts for BMW, from vehicle bodies to mirrors.
