Automotive Received US$6.94 billion in FDI in 2019

Under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2018, vehicle and auto part manufacturing were in first and third place in FDI attraction, respectively, according to the 2019 figures reported by the Mexican Ministry of Economy. Mexico received a total of US$32.9 billion in FDI during 2019, of which US$6.94 billion came from automotive companies.

Code 3361 of NAICS 2018 encompasses economic activities related to motor vehicle manufacturing, including automobile and light-duty motor vehicles (code 33611) and heavy-duty truck manufacturing (code 33612). According to the Ministry of Economy, code 3361 received an amount of US$3.93 billion, making it the economic activity with the most FDI in 2019. The second economic activity in terms of FDI was depository credit intermediation (code 5221), with a total amount of US$3.69 billion, followed by motor vehicle parts manufacturing (code 3363) with US$3.01 billion.

Auto parts manufacturing remains the cornerstone of Mexico's automotive industry. According to INA, Mexico is expected to exceed US$105 billion in production value by 2021 due to stricter rules of origin for vehicle production established in USMCA. INA expects this segment to generate 890,000 direct jobs during 2020.

Considering total FDI received in all sectors, Mexico City, Nuevo Leon, State of Mexico, Puebla and Jalisco remain the Top 5 state leaders in the country. However, auto parts investment is concentrated mainly in four states: Coahuila (19.2%), Chihuahua (13.5%), Guanajuato (8.9%) and Nuevo Leon (8.9%).