Thursday, June 26, 2025

Chinese carmaker Jetour to invest up to US $3B in Mexico plant

Chinese state-owned automaker Jetour intends to invest around US $3 billion in Mexico to install a plant at which electric and gasoline-powered vehicles will be made.

Víctor Villanueva, the company’s director in Mexico, announced the plan at a brand launch event last week. 

Jetour Mexico
Victor Villanueva at the Jetour Mexico branch launch event. (@HolaJetourMX/Twitter)

“[The plant] will be in a strategic place, maybe the Bajío [region] or Aguascalientes. There are several options, it’s not decided yet,” he said. 

Several foreign automakers, including General Motors, Honda and Nissan, already have factories in the Bajío region, which includes the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro and Aguascalientes.  

José Centeno, a board member at LDR Solutions, a partner of Jetour, said that the site of the new plant will be decided in the next two months. The plant, which is expected to begin operations some time in 2024, will be Jetour’s first in the Americas. 

Centeno said that the company intends to manufacture gasoline-powered vehicles in Mexico for the South American market, and electric vehicles for sale in the United States and Canada. 

Jetour is also aiming to capture a share of the Mexican vehicle market even before it establishes its plant here. Villanueva said that the automaker will begin sales on April 15 and intends to “change the image of China” from one of an “imitator” to one of an “innovator.” 

Jetour said in late March that it would establish 30 dealerships in 21 cities and regions throughout Mexico. The first vehicles to hit the Mexican market will be the Jetour X70 SUV and the X70 plus SUV. 

The former will sell for 489,900 pesos (about US $27,000) while the latter will cost 629,000 pesos (about US $35,000), according to the Jetour México website. The “Dashing” model, a hybrid SUV, is set to go on sale in Mexico in 2024. 

Jetour is hoping to attain a 3% share of the growing SUV market in Mexico, where the Chevrolet Capita was the best selling vehicle in that category last year. 

With reports from El Economista

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
bridge

Trump approves expansion of cross-border bridge connecting Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras

0
The expansion, which will take three years to complete, will double the available lanes from six to 12 and improve the trade bridge's infrastructure, paving the way for a greater volume of U.S.-Mexico trade.
Marcelo Ebrard

Mexico close to striking a deal on US steel tariffs, Bloomberg reports

1
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that trade negotiations between the United States and Mexico are "homing in on a possible quota system to reduce tariffs on a certain volume of steel imports."
mass grave near Jojutla, Morelos

Officials minimize search collective’s report of 60 bodies found in Morelos mass grave

1
On Tuesday, Amnesty International expressed its "profound concern" over the "alleged irregular burial" of at least 60 people, including 10 babies, in a mass grave in the central Mexican state of Morelos.