UPDATE 2-Canada's Magna expects total sales to rise 10-11 pct in 2016

(Recasts with focus on total sales; adds comments from CFO,
analyst)
Jan 13 (Reuters) - Canada's Magna International Inc MG.TO
MGA.N said Wednesday it expected total sales to rise an
estimated 10 to 11 percent this year, helped by recent
acquisitions including that of German transmission parts maker
Getrag.
Magna said it expects total sales of between $34.6 billion
and $36.3 billion in 2016, up from an estimated $31.3 billion to
$32.6 billion in November 2015.
Magna Chief Financial Officer Vince Galifi said the company
would be open to making future acquisitions, even as it expects
Getrag to generate stronger sales for Magna through 2018,
especially in Asia.
"We expect to continue to pursue M&A opportunities," he told
analysts.
Galifi and Magna CEO Don Walker were speaking at the
Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) 2015 Global Auto Industry Conference in Detroit.
The Aurora, Ontario-based company, which also assembles
vehicles under contract, said it expected capital spending of
$1.8 billion to $2.0 billion in the year ahead, compared with an
estimated $1.5 billion last year.
Magna said its operating margin was likely to be in the high
7-percent range.
The company had said in November it expected an operating
margin of 7.7 percent in 2015.
In a note to clients, Canaccord Genuity analyst David Tyerman
said Magna's 2016 and 2018 guidance "appears only slightly lower
than our expectations."
Tyerman had estimated an operating margin of 8.3 percent.
Magna, whose customers include General Motors Co (N:GM) GM.N ,
Volkswagen AG VOWG_p.DE , BMW BMWG.DE and Ford Motor (N:F) Co
F.N , said in November that operational problems at three of
its North American plants would spill into the first half of
2016.
Problems at the metalforming plants, two in Canada and one
in the U.S., continued to generate losses during the fourth
quarter, but should be corrected by year's end, the company
said.
Magna said it expected total sales of $34.6 billion to $36.3
billion this year. In November, the company forecast 2015 sales
of $31.3 billion to $32.6 billion.
Galifi said the company is looking at strategies to grow in
new technologies such as driver assistance features popular in
the burgeoning connected car market.
"We do want to be bigger in the area," he said. "It's a very
active discussion internally."
Magna shares traded 1.86 percent higher at C$51.50 in early
afternoon trading in Toronto.