Navistar Delivers Batch of Electric Trucks Assembled in Mexico

US truck maker Navistar delivered the first batch of its new battery electric vehicle (BEV), the first to be assembled in Mexico, to Canadian company ENMAX. This fully-electric vehicle has been produced in its plant in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon, and since August 2021 and will be sold in Mexico and Canada. 

Navistar seeks to cover a North American market increasingly searching for electro-mobility solutions. Navistar’s eMV is a 100 percent BEV and that is competitive across the “traditional market,” said the company. Navistar recently announced a US$39 million investment to expand its assembly plant in Escobedo, which will create 750 new jobs. The assembly plant has over 6,200 employees, making it Navistar’s larger facility around the world. 

The company also announced a US$250 million investment for a new production plant in San Antonio, Texas. “With the investment, we will create an assembly plant to support the expected growth of the industry, as well as advances in terms of market share,” said Troy Clarke, General Director, Navistar, as reported by T21. The new plant will be located in an important vehicular corridor, adjacent to Texas’ Interstate 35. Its location will allow Navistar to link its supply bases in the southern US and Mexico, enabling the “logistical improvements to reduce costs and improve profitability,” said Clarke.

Nuevo Leon has attracted numerous automotive plants during recent months. “[In Nuevo Leon,] we are always looking for the best quality indexes, seeking the best policies and always being an example at a national level,” said Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel García Sepúlveda, as reported by Contra Réplica. 

The automotive industry is moving toward an electromobility future. To accomplish this, the collaboration between the public and private sector is critical, as Guillermo Rosales, Executive President, Mexican Association of Automotive Dealerships (AMDA), told MBN: “We welcome the president’s declaration of intent to help reduce the environmental impact of vehicles in Mexico, which among other key provisions aims for electric and hybrid vehicles to represent 50 percent of production by 2030. We want to work with the presidency and the Ministry of Economy on a program that allows the country to fulfill that objective. There is practically nothing in terms of public policy to encourage the manufacturing of electric vehicles in Mexico. The opposite is happening.”