Magna entering joint venture with Mitsubishi?

Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. is said to be in advanced talks to build a joint battery plant for electric cars with Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

According to a report in Austria’s business daily WirtschaftsBlatt, the deal will likely be signed within two weeks.

As a result of their agreement, the Austrian paper said, a joint battery plant specially designated for assembling electric vehicles (EVs) will be established.

Aurora, Ont.-based Magna has not commented on the report, but CEO Siegfried Wolf has said in the past that the firm was planning to found two EV battery plants – one in Europe and one in the U.S.

Magna has recently created a business division to produce solely EV components and electric vehicles.