In the first half of 2024, nearly 40,000 cars were exported to the U.S., according to the Mexican Automotive Manufacturers Association. U.S. President Trump said he could impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Feb. 1, sending shares of several Asian automakers and battery firms lower in trading on Tuesday.
Here are companies that may be affected:
Audi Volkswagen's Audi plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, makes the Q5, employing just over 5,000 people. It produced nearly 176,000 cars in 2023, its website showed. In the first half of 2024, nearly 40,000 cars were exported to the U.S., according to the Mexican Automotive Manufacturers Association.
BMW BMW's plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, produces the 3 Series, 2 Series Coupe and M2, with nearly all of the output going to the U.S. and other markets worldwide, according to the carmaker. From 2027, it will produce the all-electric "Neue Klasse" model line.
BYD Chinese EV maker BYD has been scouting for locations to build a plant in Mexico but has said repeatedly that the factory will serve the domestic market and not produce cars to be sold in the U.S.
Honda Motor Honda Motor sends 80% of its Mexican output to the U.S. market and its Chief Operating Officer Shinji Aoyama warned in November that it would have to think about shifting production if the U.S. were to impose permanent tariffs on vehicles imported from the country.
JAC Motors China's JAC Motors has since 2017 had a joint venture in Mexico with Giant Motors to assemble JAC brand vehicles. SAIC-owned MG in August announced plans to build a plant in the country.
Kia Corp South Korea's Kia Corp has a factory in Mexico that makes its own vehicles and a small number of Tucson SUVs for its affiliate Hyundai Motor for U.S. exports.
Mazda Mazda exported around 120,000 vehicles from Mexico to the United States in 2023. Mazda President Masahiro Moro said in November that the tariff issue is "not a problem that can be solved by individual companies" and it would carefully examine the details before deciding its response.
Nissan Motor Nissan Motor has two plants in Mexico where it makes the Sentra, Versa and Kicks models for the U.S. market. It produced nearly 505,000 vehicles in Mexico in the first nine months of 2024. The company did not disclose how many of those were exported to the U.S. market.
Stellantis Stellantis operates two assembly plants in Mexico: Saltillo, which makes Ram pick-ups and vans, and Toluca, for the Jeep Compass mid-sized SUV. The Franco-Italian group also owns two assembly plants in Ontario, Canada: Windsor, where it makes Chrysler models, and Brampton, currently under retooling and scheduled to resume production in 2025 with a new Jeep model.
Toyota Motor Toyota Motor builds its Tacoma pick-up truck at two plants in Mexico. It sold more than 230,000 of them in the U.S. in 2023, representing about 10% of its total sales in that market. Toyota used to produce the Tacoma in the U.S. but now ships all of them from Mexico, which accounts for most of the production at the plants.
Volkswagen Volkswagen's factory in Puebla is the largest auto plant in Mexico and one of the largest in the VW Group, according to the carmaker's website. Nearly 350,000 cars were made there in 2023, including the Jetta, Tiguan and Taos, all for export to the U.S.
Autoliv Sweden's Autoliv, the world's largest maker of airbags and seat belts, said it employs around 15,000 staff in Mexico, declining to comment on exports into the U.S. from there.
Michelin Tyre maker Michelin has two plants in Mexico - Queretaro and Leon - and three in Canada: Pictou, Bridgewater and Waterville.
Yanfeng Chinese seat maker Yanfeng Automotive Interiors has been producing in Mexico for years to supply automakers including General Motors and Toyota. Other parts makers with plants in Mexico serving automotive production for the U.S. market include Italian tyremaker Pirelli, Italian premium brake maker Brembo and Italy's Eurogroup Laminations.
Eurogroup Laminations, which has Tesla among its clients, specialises in stators and rotors, two key components of electric motors and generators.
U.S. automaker Tesla encouraged its Chinese suppliers to set up plants in Mexico in 2023 to mainly supply its planned factory in Mexico.
Tesla originally planned to start production in Mexico in early 2025 but has largely shifted to an expansion plan for its Texas plant.
Foxconn The world's biggest electronics contract manufacturer, Taiwan's Foxconn, is building a giant artificial intelligence server factory in collaboration with Nvidia in Mexico. It plans to start production early in 2025 making a liquid-cooled server containing Nvidia's new and powerful Blackwell family of AI chips.