MEXICO CITY—Mexico is on course to produce 5 million light vehicles a year by 2020, 20 percent more than previously predicted, the head of the country's automotive industry association said recently.
Injection molders are among those likely to benefit from the increase, Eduardo Solis, president of the Asociacion Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz AC, told Plastics News, a sister publication of Rubber & Plastics News.
Solís based the estimate on new investments being made by light vehicle OEMs in Mexico. He spoke at Mexico's Industrial Location & Logistics Summit, held June 3-4 in Mexico City.
“That's a hard forecast,” he told delegates at the conference. Solis said it was the first time he had mentioned the 5 million milestone in public.
Through April, Mexico produced 1,132,481 light vehicles, 10.7 percent more than in the same period in 2014, according to AMIA figures.
Light vehicle production will top 3.4 million this year and 4 million in 2017, Solís said.
He told Plastics News that injection molding is one of the activities the automotive sector is eager to develop, along with machinery, stamping, casting and forging.
According to AMIA, citing statistics from Mexico's economy ministry, between 1999 and 2014, foreign direct investment in the auto manufacturing sector, including vehicle OEMs and suppliers, totaled $37.6 billion.
Leo Torres, Ford Motor Co. de Mexico's purchasing director, told conference delegates that “big investments will keep coming into Mexico.”
But he added that the government “should align policies to maintain and generate more investments. Academia should align its vision to improve our technical conditions.” Infrastructure needed to be improved and utility consumption costs reviewed, he said.