Automotive production in Mexico and controversial comments made by a famous Mexican soccer player were among the issues President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Wednesday morning press conference.
She also responded to a claim by a senior Trump administration official that “it’s only a matter of time” before Mexican criminal organizations carry out drone attacks against U.S citizens and law enforcement authorities.
Here is a recap of the president’s July 23 mañanera.
Sheinbaum: No automaker has plans to leave Mexico
Two days after the website Automotive News reported that Nissan “plans to shrink its industrial footprint in Mexico by ending production at two assembly plants,” Sheinbaum said that no automaker “has told us that they’re going to move out of our country — none.”
She said that moving an auto production plant “is not so easy” as it costs billions of dollars and “requires a lot of time.”
Sheinbaum highlighted that vehicles made in Mexico and Canada with at least some U.S. content get a “discount” on the 25% auto tariffs the United States implemented earlier this year. Vehicles made in Mexico for export to the United States have, on average, 40% U.S. — and thus duty-free — content, lowering the effective tariff rate to 15%.
Sheinbaum acknowledged that automakers with lower U.S. content in their vehicles that export to the United States in accordance with “most favored nation” rules, rather than under the USMCA, face a higher tariff.
However, those “mainly European” automakers haven’t said they’re leaving the country either, she said.
“We’re in personal contact with all the companies … and none has suggested moving [out of Mexico]. Nissan even … moved part of production of one of its models from Argentina to Mexico and there will be greater production in our country,” Sheinbaum said.
Her remarks came after Automotive News published an article on Monday under the headline “Nissan shutting Mexico plant that was company’s first outside Japan by early 2027.”
“According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Nissan is expected to shut down its nearly 60-year-old Civac plant in south-central Mexico no later than March 2027, the end of the Japanese carmaker’s business year,” the website said.
“Additionally, Nissan is expected to dissolve its COMPAS joint venture with Mercedes after crossover production at the 2.37-million-square-foot factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico, concludes early next year,” Automotive News said.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nissan hadn’t commented publicly on the claims in the Automotive News report.
Rodrigo Centeno, president and general director of Nissan Mexicana, said in April that Nissan was sticking to its current production and investment plans for Mexico despite the United States’ imposition of tariffs on imported vehicles.
“There is no modification to short-term plans because to a large extent those decisions aren’t short-term ones,” he said at the time.
“… We don’t have any change on the table at this time. We have the pedal to the metal,” Centeno said.
His assertion served as reassurance for the Mexican auto sector as Nissan’s CEO Makoto Uchida said in February that the automaker could leave Mexico if 25% tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump were to take effect.
Nissan has three plants in Mexico — two in the state of Aguascalientes and one in Morelos — from which it exports about 320,000 vehicles to the U.S. each year. The company sold more cars in Mexico last year than any other automaker.
Chicharito ‘has a lot to learn’ about women, says Sheinbaum
A reporter asked the president about recent remarks made by soccer star Javier “Chicharito” Hernández that have been widely criticized and described as sexist and misogynistic.
Hernández, a former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Mexican national team footballer who now plays for the Chivas de Guadalajara, made the remarks in a series of videos posted to social media.
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In one, he says: “Women, you are failing. You are eradicating masculinity, making society hyper-sensitive. You embody feminine energy: caring, nourishing, receiving, multiplying, cleaning, maintaining the home that is the most precious place for us men. Don’t be afraid to be women, to allow yourselves to be led by a man who only wants to see you happy.”
Sheinbaum said that Chicharito is a “very good soccer player,” but with regard to his opinions about women, she declared: “I think he still has a lot to learn because women can be whatever we want to be.”
A relationship between a woman and a man is “a relationship of equality,” the president said, pointing out that the concept of “substantive equality” is now in the Mexican Constitution.
“It’s equality, but each [gender] with its own characteristics,” Sheinbaum said.
“… In terms of access to all rights, there is equality,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that the idea that a woman’s place is in the home is a “very sexist” idea.
“It’s not about arguing with ‘el Chicharito’ because he’s a great soccer player and has represented Mexico at different times. But it is important that all men in our country recognize women as people,” she said.
“… Women can be whatever we want to be. This is a learning not just for women … but also for men, for society as a whole,” Sheinbaum said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
