Court denies request for dismissal in Magna International ERISA suit
A Magna International plant in Markham, Ontario
A federal court judge in Detroit has rejected a request by Magna International of America Inc., Troy, Mich., to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former 401(k) plan participants who accused the company and plan fiduciaries of violating their ERISA duties.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants failed to reduce expenses and failed to properly assess each investment option to ensure it was prudent, according to their April 2020 complaint. They also said the fiduciaries should have selected lower-cost shares of mutual funds in the plan lineup.
Fisker Inc CEO said on Thursday that the electric vehicle startup is considering setting up a battery cell manufacturing facility with an unidentified major supplier in Europe or the United States, to secure stable supplies of the key component.
Fisker mulls battery cell manufacturing in Europe, U S with major supplier metro.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from metro.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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(Reuters) - Fisker Inc CEO said on Thursday that the electric vehicle startup is considering setting up a battery cell manufacturing facility with an unidentified major supplier in Europe or the United States, to secure stable supplies of the key component.
FILE PHOTO: Fisker logo is seen on a Fisker Karma car at the Auto 2016 car show in Riga, Latvia, April 15, 2016. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Fisker, which was once a rival to Tesla Motors Inc in the nascent market for electric luxury cars, struggled with the recall of batteries made by its previous supplier, A123, which later filed for bankruptcy.
Magna is one of the world’s biggest car-parts suppliers, having generated nearly US$40 billion of revenue in 2019 from products such as transmissions, vehicle cameras, mirrors and seating. The contract manufacturing subsidiary, Magna Steyr, is the really interesting piece. It builds niche premium vehicles at a factory in Graz, Austria, including the Mercedes G-Class 4×4, the electric Jaguar I-Pace and the BMW Z4 sportscar.
Typically those companies choose to outsource the work, rather than retool or build a new production line, because the sales volumes are relatively small. In 2019 Magna assembled almost 160,000 vehicles – more than many carmakers produce and generated US$6.7 billion of revenue from these activities. Together with joint venture partner Beijing Automotive Group Co. (BAIC) it recently added another facility in China, which is capable of producing 180,000 vehicles yearly. A North American plant might be next.