Magna International

Frank Stronach, an Austrian-trained toolmaker who had immigrated to Canada, opened a one-man tool-and-die shop in Toronto in 1957 under the name Multimatic. Its first real contract was an order from General Motors' Oshawa plant for metal-stamped sun-visor brackets — a small start for what would become one of the world's largest auto-parts suppliers. In 1969, Multimatic merged with the publicly traded Magna Electronics Corporation Limited, and the combined firm eventually took the Magna name.

"Fair Enterprise"

Stronach's defining management idea was a profit- and equity-sharing model he branded "Fair Enterprise": a fixed share of pre-tax profit distributed to employees, plus mechanisms giving plant managers a real ownership stake in their own operating unit's results. The philosophy was credited with driving unusually fast, decentralized growth through the 1970s to 1990s as Magna opened dozens of small, semi-autonomous parts plants across southern Ontario rather than a few giant factories.

From Aurora to a global supplier

Magna is now headquartered in Aurora, Ontario, and by 2008 had become the largest automotive-parts supplier in North America, with sales exceeding US $20 billion that year. Its scope now spans body/chassis systems, seating, powertrain, electric-vehicle components, and even contract vehicle assembly for automakers that don't want to build a plant themselves.

Sources

• Magna International — Facts & History
• The Globe and Mail — A Look at Frank Stronach's Industrious History

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