Mexico Needs Integral, Joint Planning: OEMs

The government of Mexico has to define a sustainable mobility plan jointly with the automotive industry to integrate a competitive business model that enables players to work under fair, legal conditions, agreed executives from five of the biggest automakers in the country.

“We have to make a plan together with the government, because the automotive industry is very capable of developing mobility in the country. With the country’s potential, we should sell more cars per capita and we are almost at half. We could sell 2 million units per year, considering that there are over 120 million inhabitants. (It is also important) to address the issue of fuel efficiency, what kind of gasoline should be used to reduce pollution,” said José Román, President, Nissan Mexicana, during AMDA’s Automotive Forum.

Despite sales and exports hitting record-lows in the last months due to semiconductor shortages, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree to legalize and regulate contraband vehicles. This decision, harshly criticized by different industry players, could harm the auto sector just when it faces one of its worst recent crises, according to Guillermo Prieto Treviño, President, AMDA. “The 19 decrees done since 1979 to regularize contraband cars have all failed due to the negative effects to the local market.”

Semiconductor shortages have hit hard OEMs and the entire supply chain across the world, said Horacio Chávez, Director, KIA México and Guillermo Díaz, Vice President of Operations, Toyota México. While the situation for the sector has been “critical,” the messages coming from the government do not offer peace of mind, said Luz Elena del Castillo, CEO, Ford de México.

“I am arriving in Mexico following my experience in economies where used cars imports are allowed without restrictions. (In those countries) new vehicles sales represent just a quarter of the used vehicles sales. This could happen in Mexico, that is why we need a healthy, transparent and solid market,” said del Castillo. She was named head of the company back in August, following her experience in Central America and the Caribbean.

Electric mobility is growing across other countries across the world, especially in the more developed economies; however, Mexico is lagging regarding regulations and incentives, pointed Edgar Estrada, Director General, Volkswagen de México: “We see that the market evolves and we need to be faster and innovative to plan the immediate future of mobility. It is important to take action now to have sustainable development in the coming years and prepare the Mexican market.”