INTERVIEW ZORAN SOKOLOVIĆ, plant manager at Magna Seating d.o.o.
Reliable Producer of Reliable Products Car component manufacturer Magna International is a world leader in providing goods for the automotive industry. With the opening of the company’s car seating plant in the Vojvodina municipality of Odžaci in 2012, Magna has become a driver of employment opportunities and employee development in Serbia ment, the administration of Vojvodina and the municipality of Odžaci have all been exceptionally supportive of Magna and acted as reliable and dedicated partners in the decisionmaking process and throughout the construction phase. The municipality, for instance, provided us with a plot in the newly established economic zone and also helped with infrastructure developments. We have been working hand in hand with the regional and national governments, local FDI advisors and the Canadian ambassador to Serbia in order to create a business envi-
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agna International Inc develops and manufactures automotive systems, assemblies, modules and components, as well as engineering and assembling complete vehicles – primarily for sale to manufacturers of cars and light trucks worldwide. Magna has been operating in Serbia since 2012 with impressive results. Magna Seating, an operating unit of Magna International, is an innovative leader in the development and manufacture of high-quality seating systems, seat structure and mechanism solutions, and foam and trim products for the global automotive industry. “Our capabilities range from consumer and market research, full concept development, design and engineering through testing and validation to world-class manufacturing of seating components and complete seat assemblies,” says Magna Seating plant manager Zoran Sokolović.
We have more than 580 employees, have mostly hired locally and are investing in the education of our staff. Naturally, not all positions could be filled with personnel from Odžaci, but even all management-level employees were hired from within Serbia
■ Why did Magna choose Serbia for production and how did the company decide to base its first plant in Odžaci? - Magna continues to expand in south-east Europe alongside the growing manufacturing footprint of our customers. The Serbian governWORLD MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES | CANADA
ronment that will benefit all parties involved. One fragment of this cooperation was the availability of land for the plant’s development. The municipality further supported our arrival by facilitating the necessary infrastructure elements, such as access roads, a sewage system, electricity, gas infrastructure etc. ■ In June 2013 Magna announced that it would hire more staff. How many workers do you have today?
- Yes, we were planning to employ approximately 450 people at full capacity. We succeeded in that and today we have even more employees than we had planned. There are more than 580 employees at the moment, and we have mostly hired locally and are investing in the education of our staff. All production staff received special training that qualifies them for the production of seating components in the automotive industry. Naturally, not all positions could be filled with personnel from Odžaci, but even all management-level employees were hired from within Serbia. ■ Does Magna have plants in other Western Balkan countries and, if so, where are they, how many people are employed and what is manufactured there? - In addition to the plant in Odžaci, Magna has established plants in, for example, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Odžaci is the sixth plant Magna has opened in south-east Europe. ■ Which automotive brands do you produce equipment for? - In Odžaci we produce seat covers for Mercedes, Renault and Ford. We manufacture seating components that are delivered to Magna plants in Luton in the UK, Valencia in Spain and KBD in Germany, which in turn finalise the seats and deliver them to our customers. ■