Japanese suppliers in Mexico: Development of new manufacturing facilities

Recent developments at Koito Manufacturing, JTEKT, Advics, Tokai Rika, Seiren, KYB, NHK Spring and o

2015/06/23

Summary

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 In Mexico, all the volumes of automobile production (excluding large buses and heavy-duty trucks), exports, and sales hit their record highs in 2014. In terms of figures, production increased by 9.8% year-over-year (y/y) to 3.22 million units, exports by 9.1% y/y to 2.64 million units, and sales by 6.8% y/y to 1.14 million units. Production, exports, and sales for January through April 2015 reached 1.13 million units (up 10.7% y/y), 922,000 units (up 14.0% y/y) and 401,000 units (up 22.2% y/y), respectively, and expanded their respective rates of increase.

 Under such circumstances, three Japanese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Nissan, Mazda, and Honda, started production at their new plants successively between November 2013 and February 2014. Toyota also announced in April 2015 that it would construct a new passenger car plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 units in Guanajuato, Mexico and start operations at the new plant in 2019. In addition, Audi and Kia Motors plan to start operations at their respective new plants in 2016. Other new plants are expected to be operational by a joint venture between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler in 2017, followed by BMW in 2019.

 Many Japanese parts suppliers are continuously building new plants in Mexico, while some are expanding production capacities at their existing plants. Some suppliers are boosting the production capacities of new plants prior to commencement of operations, while others are building new plants for additional production items. This report summarizes Japanese parts suppliers' new plants in Mexico, in the eight months up to mid-May 2015. Japanese suppliers' production expansion in Mexico and their activities in Brazil will be repored in a separate report.

New plants in Mexico (production items in parentheses)

Establishment of new plants  JTEKT (electric power steering [EPS] systems), Showa (EPS systems), Advics (drum brakes), Tokai Rika (switches, security systems, etc.), NTN (bearings and constant velocity joints [CVJs]), NSK (bearings), Nachi-Fujikoshi (bearings), NHK Spring (suspension springs), Beyonz (transmission parts), Yasunaga (engine parts), Koito Manufacturing (lamps), Stanley Electric (lamps), Asahi Kasei Chemicals (plastic compounds), Nissin Mold (plastic parts), MCsystems (anti-corrosion treatment), and DOWA Holdings (heat treatment)
Additional investment to increase production volume and items at new plants  Seiren (interior materials), DaikyoNishikawa (plastic parts),Kayaba Industry (KYB)(shock absorbers and vane pumps for continuously variable transmissions [CVTs]), and Suncall (ring gear plant and plant for manufacturing steel wires for valve springs)
Establishment of sales subsidiary  San-En Kizai (CVT parts)


Japanese suppliers Related Reports:
* Southeast Asia (May 2015), the U.S. (Mar. 2015)
* China (Part 1): Southern, Central and Southwestern regions (Jan. 2015)
* China (Part 2): East/North/Northeast regions and overview (Feb. 2015)
* India (Nov. 2014)
* Mexico (Oct. 2014), Mexico and Brazil: Expanding capacity for local demand (Oct. 2014)
* Thailand (Sep. 2014)

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