MOSCOW, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. plans to build a $500 million Chrysler assembly factory in Russia, a Russian media report said Monday.
The plant will be able to make 150,000 Chrysler vehicles a year, and possibly double that volume, Kommersant reported.
Magna -- -- which owns the successful Magna Steyr automobile production company in Austria, which assembles 220,000 BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, Saabs and Chryslers a year -- signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade over the weekend, the publication said.
It is not known what Chrysler models the plant will produce, it said.
Magna, of Aurora, Ontario, would not comment on what a spokeswoman described as "speculation."
The company -- which makes parts for Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. -- expressed an interest in acquiring Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler AG in March.
Chrysler's Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler models sold 4,900 cars in this year's first 10 months, making them the 32nd, 38th and 40th most popular makes in the country, Kommersant said.
Its sales fell 13 percent in that period, even as foreign car sales increased 64 percent.
