The global automotive market is still faltering, and even brands like Audi,
Mercedes, and BMW are taking action to overcome the failing global economy. Part
of this process of healing from the downturn is to lower production costs by
producing cars closer to their anticipated homes.
Mercedes has already announced that it will manufacture its C-Class in it
U.S. plant, starting in 2014. Audi has also let us know that it will be
utilizing a plant in Mexico to manufacture certain models. According to reports,
BMW’s most popular car, the 3-Series, may be heading from its typical production
home over to North America.
Automotive News has released a report that shows BMW is considering
moving some of the 3-Series’ production number south of the border, and no, we
are not talking about moving it to Austria. We are talking about the 3-Series
potentially hailing from Mexico, in the near future.
This report cites Mexico’s lower wages and free trade into the U.S.,
Canada, South America and some of Asia as its chief reasoning for the
consideration. This would likely help boost profits by eliminating or lowering
shipping costs, overall manufacturing costs, and even import fees. Don’t look
for the 3-Series’ price to drop, though, as this is purely a cost-savings
effort, not a price-lowering campaign.
If the project is given the go ahead, production should start ramping up
slowly in Mexico in 2016 and increase over the years. We anticipate hearing a
final decision on this topic early next year, so stay tuned to see if your “drei
zwei fünf “ eventually becomes a “tres dos cinco“ in future years.
