[Courtesy of Dayou AouParts]
Monterrey is a major hub for global electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Tesla revealed its plan in February to establish a $5 billion EV production plant in the capital of Mexico’s industrial state Nuevo León. Various South Korean automakers are also expanding their market into Mexico to overcome a U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which offers up to $7,500 in tax credits for EVs assembled in North America including Mexico and Canada, and contains more than a certain percentage of core minerals extracted in the region.
The completion ceremony of the steering wheel factory will take place on June 8, Dayou said. The 26,446 square meter-wide plant, which is about the size of four soccer fields, would produce about 700,000 steering wheels after completing the investment worth about 18 billion won ($13.6 million). The South Korean company decided to expand its production base from Mexico's central city of Querétaro to Monterrey in June 2022 due to EVs set to be produced by the American office of Hyundai and its affiliate Kia.
In May 2022, Nuevo Leon governor Samuel García Sepúlveda posted on his Facebook that about $1 billion would be injected for the establishment of the Kia plant in Nuevo Leon. Kia has earlier unveiled its scheme to sell 1.6 million EVs in the global market by 2030.
Other domestic companies are also trying hard to meet the IRA incentive conditions. In September 2022, LG Energy Solution, the battery-making wing of South Korea's LG Group, partnered with battery material companies in North America including Electra and Avalon to build supply chains that meet the incentive conditions.
reporter
Kim Joo-heon
jhkim123@ajunews.com
