10:12 AM EST - Magna International Inc. : reported Wednesday the pending loss of its lucrative BMW X3 sport utility production contract in Austria. BMW will begin in-house assembly of the X3 in Spartanburg, S.C., after production of the vehicle's current generation ends at Magna's plant in Graz, Austria, the Canadian-based auto parts company said Wednesday. Analysts suggest that losing all X3 production could cost Magna more than US$2 billion in revenue, based on last year's vehicle sales of 113,000. Magna reported assembly revenue of $4.4 billion last year. "While end of production for the program is at the discretion of BMW, Magna Steyr currently expects BMW X3 production to end in 2010," the firm said in a release. "We are currently a significant supplier to BMW's Spartanburg facility." Magna has been the sole production source of the BMW X3 since it began producing the vehicle in 2003. BMW X3 production represented about 45 per cent of total vehicles assembled at Magna Steyr last year. Magna International Inc.
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