24th Edition of INA PAACE Automechanika 2022 Begins

Yesterday, INA PAACE Automechanika 2022, one of the largest exhibitions of automotive repair and future trends was inaugurated at the Citibanamex Center. This even is hosting hundreds of exhibitors with visitors from all over the world. Leaders of the industry are taking advantage of the opportunity to sign significant deals to propel this industry’s global significance.

INA PAACE Automechanika Mexico City is one of the most important international fairs for the automotive aftermarket industry. It is the meeting point for industry professionals looking for new suppliers, information on the latest technology, and analysis of product options.

The host of this event, INA (National Auto Parts Industry), is an essential part of the supply chain of automotive assembly plants in North America, which is made up of more than 800 companies located mainly in 15 states. Work centers range from 200 to 4,000 people.

During the inauguration, Francisco González, president of the INA, highlighted that Mexico is the fourth largest producer of auto parts and the main supplier of the US. “Our industry needs to look to the future, in the last couple of years the sector has made important advances but also complicated moments such as shortages in supplies of raw materials and components or cost increases derived from the pandemic. As electric vehicles gain market penetration, auto parts manufacturers are preparing to take advantage of new opportunities.”

In 2021 the value of automotive production in Mexico advanced 20 percent, to almost US$55 billion, while exports grew 34 percent, as more than US$50 billion were destined for foreign markets, according to INA’s data. This positive performance is maintained in 2022, during the first quarter, the value of auto parts production increased 8.2 percent at an annual rate and was 4.5 percent higher than the year before the pandemic. Exports have also grown 10 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021, to stand at US$20,473 million. Compared to the same period in 2019, it registered an increase of 29 percent.

During the event, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between AMT and INA also took place. This aims to boost collaboration to spread the best training and technology practices of the manufacturing industry globally in Mexico and Latin America.

Both bodies shared their will to reinforce their commitment to the auto parts industry by signing a collaboration agreement to further promote nearshoring and TMEC opportunities. During the signing, Carlos Mortero, International Director for Latin America, AMT presented the tool this agreement is creating, called Tooling U-SME.

Tooling U-SME is an online training and education platform, of which AMT is the master distributor in Latin America, which has the characteristic of being an LMS (Learning Management System6 Training Management System) which allows us to have better control of the advances in the training area of our operating personnel. In addition to being a platform with the administration system, it also has content of +1,000 classes, among which +450 are completely in Spanish; They are categorized into 30 different sections, such as Welding, Machining, Maintenance, CNC, Supervision, Security, among others.

“Through these educational efforts, we hope to create and retain Mexican talent to allow the industry to continue growing and to begin exploiting the large nearshoring potential that is presenting to Mexico,” Gonzalez said.