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Magna International

Magna International – Manufacturing Vehicle Parts For Renowned Automakers.

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Magna International is the largest manufacturer of original equipment vehicle parts in North America. It creates automobile systems, components, modules, and assemblies that are sold to a variety of automakers, including General Motors, Ford Motor Company, FCA, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla, Toyota, and Tata Motors.

About The Company

Magna International is a Candian company that produces automobile parts. In 2020 it was listed on the Forbes Global 2000 and is one of Canada’s biggest corporations. The company has appeared continuously in the Fortune Global 500 rankings for 20 years in a row since 2001. The company’s head office is in Ontario, Canada. Magna is controlled by a corporate charter that provides for the transfer of profits to the company’s shareholders and employees. Frank Stronach, the company’s founder, described the provisions of this agreement as a “fair enterprise system.”

History

Frank Stronach established Multimatic Investments Ltd. in a Toronto tool and die rental garage in 1957. In 1959, it signed its first deal with General Motors for metal solar interior brackets The company had eight plants operational by the late 1960s. Stronach merged aerospace, defense, and industrial components manufacturer Magna Electronics Corporation with Multimatic Investments to bring the company public in 1969. The combined company was renamed Magna International in 1973. Magna International divested its defense and aerospace operations in 1981 so it could concentrate on the automobile sector. The 1990s saw it spreading into Asia and decentralizing large systems into separate, publicly traded companies. In 2005, Magna started designing automobile rear-view cameras for Hummers on its assembly line in Michigan even though they were not yet mandated by the government. It was among the first companies to create rear view cameras for automotive manufacturers, and by 2007, it had a deal for 350,000 units. In August 2015, the company sold Grupo Antolin its interiors division, which included instrument and door panels, overhead systems, and freight management components. In 2018, the company collaborated with Lyft to provide high-tech kits that convert automobiles into self-driving cars.

Magna International

Acquisitions

Magna International declared in 2002 that it had signed a deal with DaimlerChrysler to buy the Austrian company’s Eurostar Automobilwerk division. In September 2004, Magna acquired eighty percent of New Venture Gear and consolidated it with Magna Powertrain. In 2007, it acquired complete ownership, and the business was shut down in August 2012. In November 2005, Magna acquired CTS Fahrzeug-Dachsysteme, a manufacturer of foldable roofs, from Porsche. Magna paid $1.9 billion in July 2015 to acquire Getrag, a German business that was among the biggest providers of automobile transmissions globally. The acquisition increased the Chinese market’s potential for growth. In 2018, the business purchased the German motion-based software developer Haptronik GmbH, the Italian automotive lighting maker OLSA S.p.A., and the Spanish automotive seating firm Viza Geca SL. It collaborated with Innoviz Technologies to make solid-state lidar for BMW Group’s autonomous vehicles. In January 2022, Boston-based firm Optimus Ride was acquired by Magna.

Technology

In the course of its history, Magna International has collaborated with automakers to advance vehicle safety and technology, developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), lane departure warning systems, blind-spot detection, as well as smart mobility seating systems like minivan seats that stow into the floor. The organization is the third-biggest auto parts supplier globally and the largest in North America. It creates tailored computing for fully automatic driving systems using mobility technologies. In 2018, it unveiled autonomous emergency braking technologies and an Icon radar system to assist automakers in achieving Level 5 autonomy.

Founder – Frank Stronach

One of the biggest providers of automobile systems and components worldwide, Magna International Inc., was founded by Frank Stronach. With its headquarters in Ontario, Magna employs over 158000 employees across 342 manufacturing facilities in 27 different nations.

CEO – Seetarama Kotagiri

Swamy Kotagiri is the sole representative of management on the board and the CEO of Magna. He provides vast experience and knowledge of the automotive business and has worked in the field for more than 30 years, including 21 years with Magna.

Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls – Electronic And Automotive Parts Company With Operations In Over 150 Countries.

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Johnson Controls is a multinational HVAC, electronic, and automotive parts company with operations in over 150 countries and annual revenue of over $30 billion. Additionally, it offers technical support, energy management advice, and portfolio management services for properties in the non-residential building sector.

About The Company

Johnson Controls is an American multinational corporation with headquarters in Cork, Ireland. The company manufactures security, HVAC, and fire systems for buildings. In 2017, it was ranked 389th in the Fortune Global 500, but now it is no longer eligible for inclusion in the Fortune 500 due to its non-American headquarters.

Johnson Controls
Image source: forbes.com

History

The first electric room thermostat was patented in 1883 by Warren S. Johnson. His creation catalyzed a new business and helped establish the building control sector. To produce, install, and maintain automatic temperature regulating systems for buildings, Johnson founded the Johnson Electric Service Company in 1885 with a group of Milwaukee businessmen led by William Plankinton. The company decided to concentrate on its thermal management business for non-residential buildings after Johnson’s passing in 1911. The corporation acquired the clockmaker Standard Electric Time Company in 1970. In 1974, the company adopted the name Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls purchased the battery manufacturer Globe-Union in 1978. The Standard Electric Time Company was sold to Faraday in the same year. Hoover Universal and Ferro Manufacturing, manufacturers of car seating, were purchased by Johnson Controls in 1985. Keith Wandell, the company’s president, pressed Congress for a bailout of the businesses that Johnson supplied during the recession of 2008–2009. In late March 2010, the Johnson Controls facility in Lakeshore, Ontario, shut down, and the land was thereafter sold.

In 2016, the Johnson Controls Automotive Experience unit of the company was separated into its own publicly traded company, Adient, and started trading on the NYE. It was announced in 2017 that 3M would acquire Scott Safety, the company’s safety equipment division, for $2 billion. In 2021, Johnson Controls announced that Ava Robotics would power its new “Tyco Security Robot.” This completely autonomous security robot combines access control, video surveillance, and security robots by integrating sensors, a touchscreen, and two Tyco Illustra cameras.

Business Units

Building Efficiency and Global WorkPlace Solutions are the two business segments that make up the company’s operations. For both commercial and residential structures, the Building Technologies and Solutions product line develops, manufactures, installs, and provides maintenance for HVAC, industrial refrigeration, building management, fire and security, and mechanical systems. This business unit produces products under the TempMaster, York, Metasys, Frick, Panoptix, and Sabroe brands. The business unit Global WorkPlace Solutions offers outsourced services for facility management all around the world. On behalf of its clients, it also oversees corporate real estate management, which includes purchasing and selling property, maintaining leases, and overseeing building-related initiatives like replacing equipment. In 2015, this unit was acquired by CBRE.

Controversy

In 2016, Johnson Controls and Tyco International announced that they would merge to form Johnson Controls International, an organization with its headquarters in Cork, Ireland. . By integrating with the Irish business, Johnson Controls was able to undergo a tax inversion, which allowed it to transform into an Irish corporation with significantly reduced corporate taxes. The workforce suffered greatly as a result of this restructuring. Hillary Clinton criticized the corporation for trying to use the acquisition to avoid paying taxes in the United States after it had “begged” the administration for financial assistance in 2008. Because Tyco stockholders now held 44% of the business, the Johnson deal, which Fortune magazine called “outrageous,” qualified as a “super inversion” and escapes the penalties the US Department of the Treasury has levied on past inversion deals. The company calculated that by avoiding American taxes, it would save around $150 million a year.

Founder – Warren S. Johnson

Warren S. Johnson. Johnson founded the Johnson Electric Service Company, which later evolved into Johnson Controls, to produce and market his thermostat technology. He was a university lecturer who had difficulty controlling the temperatures in every classroom. The issue was resolved by his multi-zone pneumatic management system. Offices, schools, hospitals, hotels, and practically any large facility with numerous rooms that needed temperature regulation adopted Johnson’s approach for temperature control on a global scale.

CEO – George Oliver

Johnson Controls chairman and CEO is George R. Oliver. Before taking over as CEO, he was the company’s president and COO, in charge of its running operations and in charge of overseeing the merger of Tyco and Johnson Controls.