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Interface News Reporter | Liu Jiaxin

Interface News Editor | Chen Xiaotong

According to local Mexican media EL Economista, MG announced that it would build a factory and R&D center in Mexico when it sold 150,000 vehicles in Mexico. The factory will be used to manufacture fuel vehicles and electric vehicles for export to the Latin American market.

MG is positioning itself as the only Chinese brand to enter the top ten in Mexico in terms of sales, and plans to bet on the markets of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Zhang Wei, president of MG Motor Mexico, said that he was pleased to announce that MG plans to make Mexico a center for growth and expansion in Latin America.“We not only produce cars, but also provide market intelligence designed specifically for the Latin American region.”

However, MG has not yet disclosed how much money it will invest in building the factory or the specific construction time. What is certain is that Zhiji, another brand under MG's parent company SAIC, will also enter the Mexican market.According to SAIC Group's previous plan, Zhiji L7 and LS7 will enter the Mexican, Middle Eastern, South American and Southeast Asian markets in 2024. In 2025, LS6 and L6 will also start to go overseas, and L7 and LS7 will also go to developed markets including Europe and Australia for deployment.

In 2020, SAIC MG officially entered the Mexican market. After entering the Mexican market, MG quickly opened up sales in the local market. In 2022, MG sold 48,000 vehicles in the Mexican market, an increase of 201% year-on-year in 2021, becoming the seventh-largest brand in the local passenger car market. Last year, MG sold 60,000 vehicles in Mexico, with a market share of 4.4%. MG's overseas factories currently include Thailand and India, and it has previously planned to open a factory in Europe.

Due to the lack of strong local brands in Mexico, for major automakers, exploring the Mexican market has become an option for developing overseas business. According to last year's sales, the top three auto brands in Mexico were Nissan, GM and Volkswagen, with market shares of 17.7%, 13.5% and 11% respectively.

In recent years, Chinese auto brands have developed rapidly in Mexico, with total sales reaching one-fifth of the local market. Currently, Chinese brands such as Chery, JAC, Changan, and BAIC have already sold cars in the Mexican market. Chery Group (including Chery brand and Oumenda) sold a total of 38,500 cars in Mexico last year, a year-on-year increase of 343.9%.

The main sources of growth in China's auto exports in 2023 are Russia (41%), Mexico (9%) and Thailand (5%). Mexico has become the second largest country for China's auto exports. Among the top five regions in my country's total vehicle exports in the first half of this year, Mexico ranks second.

In addition to SAIC MG, Chinese auto brands such as BYD also have plans to build factories in Mexico.