China Conquers Mexico’s Automotive Market, and the US Is Worried
www.wired.com
Led by the automaker BYD, China has established itself as the main car supplier in Mexico. The US worries China could use Mexico as a “back door” to sidestep tariffs and gain footing in the US market.

China has positioned itself as the main car supplier in Mexico, with exports reaching $4.6 billion in 2023, according to data from Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy.

The Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Honda and Nissan to position itself as the seventh largest automaker in the world by number of units sold during the April to June quarter. This growth was driven by increased demand for its affordable electric vehicles, according to data from automakers and research firm MarkLines.

The company’s new vehicle sales rose 40 percent year over year to 980,000 units in the quarter—the same quarter wherein most major automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, experienced a decline in sales. Much of BYD’s growth is attributed to its overseas sales, which nearly tripled in the past year to 105,000 units. Now BYD is considering locating its new auto plant in three Mexican states: Durango, Jalisco, and Nuevo Leon.

Foreign investment would be an economic boost for Mexico. The company has claimed that a plant there would create about 10,000 jobs. A Tesla competitor, BYD markets its Dolphin Mini model in Mexico for about 398,800 pesos—about $21,300 dollars—a little more than half the price of the cheapest Tesla model.

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That tariff-free access is part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC), an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement that, as of 2018, eliminated tariffs on many products traded between the North American countries. Under the treaty, if a foreign automotive company that manufactures vehicles in Canada or Mexico can demonstrate that the materials used are locally sourced, its products can be exported to the United States virtually duty-free.

MAGA strikes again

  • jimbolauski@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    American companies want less competition and certainly don’t want to compete against a heavily subsidized vehicle.

    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      So essentially its just an over reaction? I mean that and the tiktok ban were some of the quickest legislation americans have seen lately. Maybe just media fear mongering?

      • jimbolauski@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        China makes more than small cars, they make medium and full sized too. The larger cheap cars pose much more of a threat than small cheap cars. Both US car companies and the Unions don’t want cars from China and their politicians got into line really quick during an election year.

        • Rekorse@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          Is there a high opinion of american made cars right now though, large or small? They have been very predatory in the past however many years.

          Maybe people would want to save the american car industry if it served it’s customers better. I was hoping BYD would force american car companies to go back to trying to make a useful tool instead of a means to extract money.