China has positioned itself as the main car supplier in Mexico, with exports reaching $4.6 billion in 2023, according to data from Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy.
The Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Honda and Nissan to position itself as the seventh largest automaker in the world by number of units sold during the April to June quarter. This growth was driven by increased demand for its affordable electric vehicles, according to data from automakers and research firm MarkLines.
The company’s new vehicle sales rose 40 percent year over year to 980,000 units in the quarter—the same quarter wherein most major automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, experienced a decline in sales. Much of BYD’s growth is attributed to its overseas sales, which nearly tripled in the past year to 105,000 units. Now BYD is considering locating its new auto plant in three Mexican states: Durango, Jalisco, and Nuevo Leon.
Foreign investment would be an economic boost for Mexico. The company has claimed that a plant there would create about 10,000 jobs. A Tesla competitor, BYD markets its Dolphin Mini model in Mexico for about 398,800 pesos—about $21,300 dollars—a little more than half the price of the cheapest Tesla model.
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That tariff-free access is part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC), an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement that, as of 2018, eliminated tariffs on many products traded between the North American countries. Under the treaty, if a foreign automotive company that manufactures vehicles in Canada or Mexico can demonstrate that the materials used are locally sourced, its products can be exported to the United States virtually duty-free.
MAGA strikes again
Because China’s only apply to Chinese vehicles while the US’s apply to everyone in the industry including foreign brands. This increases competition. China’s goal is to reduce competition by putting competitors out of business so that they can recoup their investment by jacking up the prices once there is nobody left to stand in their way.
Did you consider they are subsidizing it to reduce pollution? Would be great if the greatest country in the west started solving problems again instead of coming up with elaborate scams and grifts.
That’s a hilarious take as they’re the largest polluter in the world and have terrible environmental regulations. They’re doing it to capture and control the market. How does dumping a bunch of cheap, disposable cars that they’ve shipped halfway across the world after building reduce pollution exactly?
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-china-ev-graveyards/
