The governor of Nuevo León, Samuel García, announced that South Korea-based automaker KIA Motors will double its investment in Mexico from the current $3.0 billion to $6.0 billion, according to press reports from local media.
“We are going to go to KIA because in October it is going to expand, it will double the plant and it will go from $3.0 billion to $6.0 billion,” García said according to newspapers such as AB Noticias, Telediario and El Telégrafo.
KIA began vehicle production in Mexico in May 2016, in the northern city of Pesquería, located 36 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León. It is also 168 kilometers (105 miles) from the border with Texas, US.
The plant has a production capacity of 400 vehicles per year and has accumulated an investment of $3.0 billion to date.
Currently, KIA is the seventh largest vehicle producer in Mexico with a market share of 6.8 percent, very close to Toyota Motor's 7.4 percent. The other big players are Volkswagen (8.8 percent), Ford Motor (9.7 percent), Stellantis (12.6 percent), Nissan (16.4 percent) and the leader General CON 18.5 percent.
KIA from Mexico exports 75 percent of its production to the world. It is also the seventh largest vehicle exporter in the country.
According to a report from Canacero, published by SteelOrbis, the automotive industry is the second largest consumer of steel in Mexico with 18.3 percent of the total.