Free Trade, Lower Wages Drive Mexico's Automakers Brent Snavely - Detroit Free Press
go to original March 10, 2014

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, center, poses with workers after the opening of the new Honda car factory in Celaya, Guanajuato state, Mexico. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Mexico is winning thousands of new auto jobs by offering a compelling combination of lower labor costs, a mature supply base and access to transportation that makes it easy to export vehicles to the U.S., South America and Europe.

Twenty years after U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, Honda and Mazda opened two assembly plants in Mexico in less than a week.

The factories, in the central Mexican cities of Celaya and Salamanca, represent an investment of more than $2 billion. Between 2013 and 2015, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chrysler and Volkswagen automakers will invest $6.8 billion in Mexico, according to Free Press research.

In addition to NAFTA, Mexico has 10 other free trade agreements covering 43 countries, according to ProMexico, an economic development arm of the Mexican government.

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