Ford Mexico to Triple EV Production in 2023

Ford set itself a new goal for their production of electric cars by the end of 2023. The automaker announced that EV production at its assembly plant in Cuautitlan, State of Mexico, will go from 70,000 to 210,000 units, tripling its capacity.

This increase will be possible due to the recent announcement of a US$50 billion investment that will let the plant incorporate more shifts, said Lucien Pinto, Marketing-Director, Ford, to?El Economista.?“There will be another shift and a third is to be confirmed because we have to reach 210,000 units of production by the end of 2023,” said Pinto.

The company’s EV production in Mexico is focused on the Mustang Mach-E. Mexico currently manufactures 80 percent of all vehicles worldwide and aims to supply North America, the EU and China. Ford has already sold the first batch of the electric SUV available in Mexico. Ford produced a total of 156,076 units during the first half of 2022 and exported 147,195 of them. But the EV market is still small.

“We believe that the 100 percent electric automotive market in Mexico sells less than 2,000 units per year, so divided among the participants we will see the new demand,” said Pinto.

Mexican authorities are also working to increase the penetration of electric and hybrid vehicles but its efforts have been limited, Guillermo Rosales, Executive President, Mexican Association of Automotive Dealerships (AMDA),?told?MBN. “We welcome the president’s declaration of intent to help reduce the environmental impact of vehicles in Mexico, which among other key provisions aims for electric and hybrid vehicles to represent 50 percent of production by 2030. We want to work with the presidency and the Ministry of Economy on a program that allows the country to fulfill that objective. There is practically nothing in terms of public policy to encourage the manufacturing of electric vehicles in Mexico. The opposite is happening.”

During his last visit to the US, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador committed for half of the total vehicles manufactured in Mexico to be electric or hybrid by 2030. But achieving this goal requires support, so businesses have security and certainty to invest in the country.?