Mexican-Made Autos Stream Across Border at Record Rate in First Half of 2019
Phil LeBeau, CNBC, July 9 2019
Remember President Donald Trump’s threat to slap a tariff on every product the U.S. imports from Mexico? That threat in early June, which the president later dropped, had auto executives worried.
The latest numbers from Mexico shows why so many in the auto industry were so concerned.
Mexican factories sent 1.37 million vehicles north of the border during the first half of this year — making up 16.3% of the U.S. auto market, according to Mexican auto industry trade group, the Asociacion Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz.
{snip} A record 2.6 million vehicles were imported from Mexico to the U.S. in 2018, making up 15% of the U.S. auto market, according to the Mexican auto industry’s latest report released Monday.
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Take BMW, in early June it officially opened a new assembly plant in San Luis Potosi that builds 3 Series sedans, it’s most popular car. Most of those cars will be shipped north of the border and sold in the U.S..
“Our production network is flexible, but at this point I don’t see any reason to change our plans,” BMW board member Oliver Zipse told CNBC.
