Mexico’s auto industry claims to have overtaken Japan as the second biggest car exporter to the United States in the past three months.
According to AFP, Mexico now trails only Canada but could become the top exporter to its northern neighbour as soon as 2015.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Industry analysts had expected Mexico to surpass Japan by the end of the year but the Mexican Automobile Industry Association (AMIA) said it happened faster than expected.
“It does not surprise me that they did (overtake Japan), and that number will even get bigger,” Haig Stoddard, industry analyst at Michigan-based WardsAuto Group, told AFP.
The figure came in an AMIA report showing record production in the first quarter, with 774,731 units rolling out of plants in Mexico, a 6.5% increase year on year.
AMIA, using its own statistics and WardsAuto figures, said the United States imported 428,376 Mexican made cars compared to 408,405 from Japan between January and March. Analysts said the figures are credible.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataMexico – Nissan’s first full manufacturing location outside Japan – is the world’s eighth biggest car maker and the number four exporter.
Relatively low wages, being next door to the massive US market and a raft of free trade deals with other nations have combined to make Mexico a prime location for carmakers, AFP noted.
“Mexico will continue to grow very strongly in the next five years,” AMIA president Eduardo Solis told AFP.
In addition to its ideal geographic location, Solis said Mexico is a major auto parts supplier, home to a skilled workforce and backed by a government that invites foreign investment.
Ironically, Japanese carmakers have helped Mexico become a manufacturing powerhouse, with pioneering Nissan, Mazda and Honda building new factories in the country.
“They’re building a lot more cars in the United States and Mexico,” Stoddard said. “Going forward there’s going to be more production in Mexico of Japanese cars.”
In November, Nissan opened a US$2bn manufacturing complex in the central state of Aguascalientes, its third in Mexico, which will raise the company’s output there by 25% to more than 850,000 vehicles per year.
In February, Honda inaugurated a sprawling $800m assembly plant in the central state of Guanajuato, where it is producing the Fit [Jazz] hatchback.
That same month and in the same state, Mazda opened a $770million factory to build compact models. It began with the 3 and will contract-build a version of the upcoming redesigned 2 for Toyota to sell in North America.
US and European automakers have also made huge investments in Mexico in recent years.
US consultancy IHS Automotive predicted a few months ago that Mexico would surpass Japan this year as second exporter to the United States, sending 1.69m units north, almost 200,000 more than the Asian nation.
“It’s materialising a little bit quicker than we originally thought,” IHS Automotive analyst Guido Vildozo told AFP, adding Mexico would beat Canada next year.
Japanese companies “are basically localising production in the Americas not only for the US market but also for the region as a whole,” he said. “This is basically pushing Mexico into a higher role.”
