Honda Joins The Guanajuato Gold Rush, Toyota On The Way?

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Around the time of the founding of the United States, the Mexican state of Guanajuato became home to of the one of the biggest silver mines in the world, which produced as much as 2/3rds of the world’s supply of silver at its peak. Today it’s not precious metal that’s driving Guanajuato’s booming economy, but cars, as the world’s automakers flock to Central Mexico. Between 2005 and 2008, GM, Ford and Michelin dumped $1.8b into production in the state, and the expansion is still picking up steam. In the last year, Volkswagen invested $800m in engine production capacity in Silao, Pirelli built a $210m facility and Mazda just revealed it would build a new compact car plant there in June. Toyota is said to be the next to set up shop in Guanajuato, but for the moment Honda is the latest automaker to announce new operations in Guanajuato, as Automotive News [sub] reports the Japanese automaker will spend $800m on an assembly plant there. Honda, which is fleeing a strong yen which has battered Japanese exports, will start building 200k subcompacts per year in 2014. Clearly Guanajuato’s got it’s automotive mojo flowing… but are the days of new Japanese transplant factories in the US over? Is it only a matter of time before the coyotes start smuggling Detroiters into Silao, Celaya, and the Puerto Interior??


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
19 of 39 comments
  • Highdesertcat Highdesertcat on Aug 12, 2011

    Moving production to Mexico is the smart move. With all the uncertainty in the US, the constant harping of the UAW about right-to-work states, and the NLRB forcing American companies to set up shop only in unionized states, the smooth move is to take production OUT of the US. Even Ford and GM recognized that. I would like to see ALL foreign transplants leave the US for Mexico. That would stop the constant whining of the UAW and it would keep more Mexicans in Mexico instead of coming here illegally draining our social resources.

    • See 14 previous
    • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Aug 14, 2011

      @steeringwithmyknees PintoFan, I don't care if it's even American Studies or Jewish Studies, they don't need their own department or disciplines. My academic major didn't end in "Studies" but the word was in there somewhere and frankly the degree is only useful in the academic world or to impress someone impressed with degrees. Frankly, most degrees outside of STEM are just credentials needed in a credentialist world. FWIW, along with Charles Murray, I think that 2/3rds of college students are wasting their time in college, with about 1/2 of that 2/3 not actually having the intellectual horsepower to do true college level academic work. If all you can get are Bs in high school, maybe you're not smart enough for real collegiate work. The man is a professor of Chicana/o studies and you accuse me of making a racially tinged comment? My God, the guy is a professional "Hispanic". He's the opposite of disinterested scholarship. But then, most "Studies" are agenda driven and hardly disinterested. If they're academically worthwhile, I'm sure that those courses would fit in the Sociology or Anthropology departments. Otherwise they're just an attempt to give the imprimatur of scholarship to something that isn't that scholarly. In the case of the various ethnic studies departments, they also serve the function of appeasing the diversity gods and in today's therapeutic mindset, help students be prideful about their ethnicity.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Aug 13, 2011
    Around the time of the founding of the United States, the Mexican state of Guanajuato became home to of the one of the biggest silver mines in the world, which produced as much as 2/3rds of the world’s supply of silver at its peak. It's not widely known, but the Conquistadors brought back so much silver and gold from the New World that it deflated the value of those precious metals in Europe.
  • MikeAR MikeAR on Aug 13, 2011

    Having known some people from Guanajuato, I'll say that the quality of the cars that they build will be fine.

  • Bryce Bryce on Aug 14, 2011

    Once upon a time the words "made in USA" meant it would break just after it got home American made goods were rubbish, That outlook since transferred to Japanese goods during the 60s/70s then to Taiwanese goods and so on now its claimed Chinese goods are junk and some are but none of this is accurate and if car makers want to make cars in Mexico get used to it The cars wont be any worse than US assembled are now

Next