Automotive exports from Nuevo León exceed those of pre-pandemic by 9.09%: CLAUT

Monterrey, NL. The automotive sector of Nuevo León had a growth in exports this year of 9.09% above the pre-pandemic figuresthat is, it reached 12,000 million dollars, he commented to The Economist, Manuel Montoya Ortegadirector of Automotive Cluster of Nuevo León.

“Before the pandemic, exports from the Nuevo León automotive sector were at 11,000 million dollars, now they are at 12,000 million dollars. By 2023, this figure will improve due to new investments; In addition, if before the integration of regional content was at 25%, now it will be more than 30%”, emphasized the also president of the Network of Automotive Industry Clusters.

One of the factors that supported the growth of the sector in the state, he explained, was that during the second semester there was a certain supply chain stabilitywith the arrival of semiconductors and they trust that next year the arrival of microchips will be more expedited.

As will be recalled, during the recent visit to Monterrey, the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, reported that a large semiconductor cluster is going to be built in Arizona in which Mexico seeks to participate.

“We already had a meeting in Washington, the second in Mexico, and in that dialogue, the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondoinvited Mexico because they are going to make a large cluster for semiconductors in Arizona, and told us: ‘we are going to invest 50,000 million dollars and we want Mexico to participate’”.

As for what effect the installation of these new microchip plants in Arizona would have for the automotive industry in Nuevo León, Montoya stressed: “They are very large investments and they take a long time, I don’t think their effects will be felt until 2025, they are more Of the 60,000 million dollars that are going to be invested, a secondary industry would be formed here for the automotive sector, and we are in that process”.

Towards Electromobility

On the other hand, the automotive sector of Nuevo León is observing a significant growth of second level or Tier 2 suppliers, due to the arrival of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

“I think that the growth of the industry is being noticed in the increase of Tier 2 suppliers, we are currently at a level of integration (of regional content) of around 25%, this is going to increase and it is going to bring a lot of business to local auto parts, in addition to accelerating electromobility”.

In fact, he added, Metalsa and Nemak are already heavily involved in this issue with their clients. “There is a strategic line within the Cluster that is to help companies to move towards electromobility.”

The Nuevo León Automotive Cluster is working with the Tecnologico de Monterrey to strengthen the training of engineers and, in turn, the CLAUT Driven Center has solutions for electric vehicles, for example, it has participated in the electrification of three Atmovum vehicles, from the Questum company.