At least three Chinese automakers are preparing to produce vehicles in Mexico or expand existing operations, the Mexican ambassador to China said on Monday, in what would be a boost to one of the Latin American country’s top export industries.
José Luis Bernal
, Mexico’s ambassador to China, said that over the past year and a half his office has seen more interest from Chinese firms looking to make cars in Mexico.
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Speaking at an event in Mexico City, Bernal listed Chongqing-based carmaker Changan , electric car maker BYD , and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co, known as JAC , as actively eyeing production facilities in Mexico.
Changan
and BYD do not have production facilities in Mexico yet, and while JAC does, Bernal said the firm is considering an expansion .
He added that the companies are aiming to begin the expanded Mexican operations sometime in the next year.
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The firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, last year, automotive exports from Mexico fell for the first time in a decade, dragged down by weak demand from outside the United States , and Mexican carmaking is likely to suffer fresh reversals in 2020 , an industry group said on Wednesday.
Carmaking
is a pillar of Mexican manufacturing, and a forecast by the outgoing head of Mexican automotive industry association AMIA that output and exports would decline again in 2020 does not augur well for Mexico’s stagnant economy .
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“It’s not a matter of the plants’ capacity, it’s about how much of this production the market is absorbing,” departing AMIA president Eduardo Solís told a news conference. “We’re seeing major falls at a global level .”
Last year, Mexico’s auto production slipped by 4.1% to 3,750,841 units , national statistics agency INEGI said. It was the second annual decline in a row, and the biggest since the recession Mexico suffered in 2009 after the financial crisis.
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