Automotive aftermarket in Mexico to grow more than 6% annually

The automotive aftermarket in Mexico totaled $4.3 billion in 2016 and represented 8% of North American demand, according to a new report from the Freedonia Group (Cleveland), a division of MarketResearch.com. The Freedonia Group said the value of the Mexican peso relative to the U.S. dollar declined during the 2011 to 2016 period, with the result that sales fell through 2016. In spite of that, aftermarket sales continued to climb at a strong rate when measured in pesos, said the study, "North American Automotive Aftermarket, 8th Edition."

Automotive aftermarket demand in Mexico is forecast to expand 6.4% per year through 2021 to $5.8 billion, which is the fastest rate in the region and a turnaround from the declines of the 2011 to 2016 period. The increasing availability of newer model used car imports from the United States under the 2009 NAFTA agreement is expected to have a mixed effect on the Mexican automotive aftermarket.

Aftermarket demand for automotive components in all of North America is forecast to expand 2.4% per year through 2021, accelerating from the slower growth seen between 2011 and 2016. Sales will be promoted by such factors as growth in the size and average age of the region’s light vehicle park, gains in the average number of miles driven annually and increasingly stringent regulations regarding emissions, fuel efficiency, hazardous materials, and occupant and pedestrian safety, all of which will boost the number and value of many automotive components, said The Freedonia Group’s study.

Expansion continues among suppliers to automotive OEMs in Mexico

Mexico continues to see growth and expansion in the automotive supply chain.

Recent announcements include the opening of a new, 300,000-square-foot site in Silao, Guanajuato, for Inteva Products LLC, a global Tier One automotive supplier of engineered components and systems. This is Inteva’s sixth site in Mexico, expanding the footprint it already has in the country in Matamoros (three facilities), Juarez and Puebla. The facility manufactures interior systems, and the company plans to expand its product lines to include roof systems, closure systems, motors and electronics, according to Inteva.

Mecaplast - Key Plastics, which rebranded itself last September as Novares, a global plastic solutions provider that designs and manufactures complex systems serving the automotive industry, expanded into an 83,000-square-foot leased facility in Chihuahua-Ciudad Juarez. Also expanding in that city is Altec Visteon, headquartered in Van Buren Township, MI. The company manufactures cockpit electronics, instrument clusters, heads-up displays, infotainment and telemetries, and it is locating to a 237,000-square-foot facility.

This past November, Novares won the SPE Innovation Award in cooperation with Faurecia in the process and technologies category for decorative components for their customer Ford. The winning component was a two-shot injection molded decorative bezel for an instrument panel with 3D visuals and a scratch-resistant coating. It was produced by means of a specialized plastic injection molding technique.

Summit Plastics, a full service injection molding supplier to the automotive industry headquartered in Shelby Township, MI, is expanding into a new 183,000-square-foot facility in Guanajuato, Mexico. The company has a 100,000-square-foot facility in El Paso, with presses ranging from 85 to 750 tons.

Lear Corp., a global supplier of advanced seating and electrical systems for the automotive and aerospace industry, is expanding its plant in Saltillo-Ramos Arizpe, by 88,000 square feet. The company currently has 19 facilities throughout Mexico and employs about 45,000 people.

Source: Clare Goldsberry

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