Due to a full book of business at its contract manufacturing facility in Graz, Austria, Magna has announced it will build a second paint shop 75 kilometers away in Maribor/Hoče, Slovenia.

High demand for engineering and contract manufacturing by automakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover has resulted in the Graz facility running at high-capacity utilization. Magna Steyr currently manufactures the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, with the Jaguar E-PACE beginning to launch now and Jaguar I-PACE expected to launch early in 2018. Taking into account these and other upcoming programs, Magna Steyr is expected to contract-manufacture approximately 200,000 vehicles per year by 2018.

Construction of the new facility begins today, with completion of the $100-million paint shop planned for late 2018 and operations expected to begin in 2019. The recruiting process for approximately 400 new employees has already started, the company said.

“The all-in-one competence in vehicle engineering and manufacturing puts Magna in a unique position in the global automotive supply industry, which we continuously push forward with new investments,” said Günther Apfalter, president of Magna International Europe & Magna Steyr. “Furthermore, we are proud to bring jobs and investment to this region.”