Demand for American-Made Products Growing in Mexico

ABC News, 5/6/2013

There is surprising cargo showing up on trains in Mexico. Straight from Dearborn, Mich., Ford vehicles are heading into Mexico City, where demand is high among Mexico’s growing middle class. It’s the quality, locals say, that they’re after. Vehicles like the Ford Escape travel for 14 days on a train from plants in Avon Lake, Ohio; Oakville, La.; Chicago; and Kansas City, Mo.

But cars aren’t the only American-made products in demand in Mexico. Exports to Mexico and all of Latin America, including Brazil and Argentina, are up 121 percent in the last decade. Even the beef burgers at Carl’s Jr. in Mexico are imported from the United States. The fast food chain, which has opened 20 new restaurants in Mexico this year

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Weekly News Summary: February 15

The Mexico Institute’s “Weekly News Summary,” released every Friday afternoon, summarizes the week’s most prominent Mexico headlines published in the English-language press, as well as the most engaging opinion pieces by Mexican columnists.

What the English-language press had to say…

This week, the Peña Nieto administration unveiled its new strategy to combat organized crime, promising the creation of a 10,000-strong gendarmerie by year’s end, as well as $9.2 billion for social programs aimed at the country’s most violent towns and neighborhoods.  Mexico’s booming auto industry surpassed tourism and oil exports to become the nation’s main source of foreign exchange. The government’s efforts to transform the Mexican narrative of violence into one of prosperity and social development, however, continued to suffer setbacks following the rape of six Spanish tourists in Acapulco last week. Auto defensa vigilante groups in the state of Guerrero continued to hold over forty people accused of several crimes hostage. North of the border, talk of comprehensive immigration reform continued, with critics warning against conditioning reform efforts on the poorly defined notion of securing the border, which Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano added, has “never been stronger.”

Latin America & #SOTU 2013

Bloggings by boz

Only one Latin American or Caribbean country was mentioned in last night’s State of the Union, and it was a negative mention. “Ford is bringing jobs back from Mexico.” It’s true that in 2011 and 2012 Ford added about 2,000 jobs in Michigan and Ohio manufacturing vehicles like the Ford Fusion that were previously manufactured in Mexico. However, Ford has expanded its operations in Mexico too.

Mexico’s auto manufacturing and auto parts industries are doing very well. Having an auto manufacturing industry that can so easily move vehicles and parts across North America’s borders has helped create multi-national supply chains that have benefited citizens in the US, Canada and Mexico. I understand and support President Obama’s push to improve manufacturing in the US. We should be investing in modern manufacturing hubs, research and development. But he was wrong to frame it as a US vs Mexico issue.

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Mexican auto industry surpasses remittances (Spanish)

Reforma, 2/12/2013

Ni el petróleo, ni el turismo, ni las remesas: ahora, el mayor ingreso de divisas lo genera la industria automotriz. En 2012, este sector trajo a México 32 mil 244 millones de dólares, lo que fortaleció su liderazgo como el sector que más ingresos aporta al País.

Las divisas netas generadas por la exportación de los vehículos automotores han ido creciendo en los últimos años: las del 2012 fueron 11 por ciento superiores a las de 2011 y 194 por ciento más que las de 2000, según datos del Banco de México. Los autos de mayor exportación fueron el Nuevo Jetta; Fusion; Journey; Silverado 2500; Sentra; RAM 2500 y Versa.

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Mexico to support auto sector until recovery seen

Reuters, 4/24/2009

Mexico will aim to keep in place measures to support the auto industry at least until an expected recovery late next year as it hopes to attract more investment to the country, a senior trade official said on Friday.

The Mexican economy has been hit hard by a collapse in auto production, which sank by a third in March from the previous year. Around 70 percent of cars produced in Latin America’s second-largest economy go to the U.S. market, which is suffering its worst downturn in almost 30 years.

The government has been trying to lessen the pain by shouldering one-third of workers’ salaries when companies suspend operations at factories, and that program is expected to continue until business turns up, Deputy Secretary of International Trade Beatriz Leycegui said.

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Saving Detroit, and Mexican Jobs

New York Times, 4/23/2009

Ford Taurus

Over the past year, as Detroit’s troubles have mounted, Chrysler and General Motors have gone, hat in hand, to ask Congress for money. The main justification for using taxpayer money to prop up America’s failing auto industry, of course, is to protect American jobs.

But a report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank that studies economic issues that affect workers, argues that saving American automakers may instead end up saving — and even creating — Mexican jobs.

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FACTBOX-Mexico’s car industry in crisis

Reuters, 3/10/2009

Mexican auto exports and production plunged in February in a dramatic sign of how the economic slump is hobbling Mexico’s manufacturing base.

Mexico’s car industry, which primarily supplies the United States, now expects output and exports will both drop by up to a quarter this year as the U.S. recession bites.

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Detroit’s ills send chills through Mexico’s auto industry

Chicago Tribune, 2/17/2009

Ford Fusion Hybrid - Sam VarnHagen/Ford Motor Co

After years of benefiting from its cheap, skilled labor and proximity to the U.S., Mexico is feeling the effects of the decline of Detroit’s automakers. Nearly every auto plant in Mexico, including General Motors Corp.’s and Chrysler LLC’s, has instituted temporary shutdowns.

In December, the Ford plant in Cuautitlan Izcalli on the industrial outskirts of Mexico City ended production, costing about 650 workers their jobs.

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GM to temporarily close Mexico plants (in Spanish)

La Jornada, 12/12/2008

Automaker General Motors announced this Friday that it will be cutting 30% of its vehicle production and will temporarily close the majority of its North American plants, including three in Mexico. The measure is part of the company’s effort to obtain federal funds to help it survive, after the Senate rejected the financial rescue initiative that was being negotiated for the automaker industry.

The plants affected in Mexico are Ramos 2 in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila; Silao, Guanajuato; and in San Luis Potosi.

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