In recent years, automakers have been doing their best to reduce costs where possible. The pressure is greater now with electric vehicle development eating into budgets and cash on hand.
This has led for manufacturers to focus on two things:
First, shortening the supply chain.
Second, building vehicles in Mexico — where it can be done at a cheaper cost — for delivery in the North American market.
While there's been a bunch of import auto companies setting up shop in the United States, the Mexico option has become quite palatable for volume-selling vehicles. And if car companies like Honda, BMW and Mercedes can build vehicles in the U.S. and keep to their standard, who's to say that the same can't be done in Mexico?
Well, I challenge that with one example. Volkswagens that were built in Germany are markedly different than those built in Mexico. Having driven, tested and owned VWs — the German-made ones — I can attest to that. Could it be VW just cheapening its products across the board? Of course.
When it applies to an entry-level luxury product like the 3-Series though, we've got to wonder: Now that the BMW 3-Series will be built in Mexico, does that kind of kill it for you? Is the 3-Series not going to be the same from your perspective?
What say you, Spies?
...For auto executives, the threat may have caused headaches, but it didn’t force any changes to supply and assembly lines that are firmly entrenched in Mexico.
Take BMW, in early June it officially opened a new assembly plant in San Luis Potosi that builds 3 Series sedans, it’s most popular car. Most of those cars will be shipped north of the border and sold in the U.S..
“Our production network is flexible, but at this point I don’t see any reason to change our plans,” BMW board member Oliver Zipse told CNBC.
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