Chinese automaker spends $3 billion to assert its position in Mexico

Starting April 15, car company Jetour will start selling two SUV models imported from China, the Jetour X70 and Jetour X70 Plus, in the Mexican market, while the company plans to build a factory in the North American country.

Jetour's Dashing hybrid SUV will go on sale in Mexico in 2024. (Source: Mexico News Daily)

Chinese carmaker Jetour is planning to invest $3 billion to build a factory in Mexico to produce electric and internal combustion engine vehicles. This is the first factory project in the Americas for the low-cost car brand of the Chinese government- owned Chery Automobile Group.

Jetour ’s April 7 announcement said it would likely build a factory in Bajío, an area that straddles the three states of Guanajuato, Querétaro and Aguascalientes. Bajío is also home to many of the world’s leading automakers, including General Motors, Honda and Nissan.

Jetour's factory is expected to produce electric cars for the Canadian and US markets after it comes online in late 2024, while traditional internal combustion engine cars will be sold in Mexico and Latin America.

However, while waiting for the factory to officially come into operation, Jetour will import cars from China to “offer” in the Mexican market. From April 15, Jetour will start selling in this country two popular sports utility vehicles (SUVs), the Jetour X70 and Jetour X70 Plus.

According to the plan, Jetour will open 30 dealerships in 20 major cities in Mexico with the ambition of capturing 3% of the SUV segment market share, which is currently witnessing strong growth in this country of 130 million people.

Launched in 2018, Jetour is a brand specializing in producing low-cost cars of the Chery automobile group. Currently, Jetour products are present in more than 30 countries and territories through a system of 300 sales and after-sales service agents.

According to data from the US-based consulting firm Urban Science, although each individual brand only accounts for a small market share, if you add up models imported from China by manufacturers such as General Motors (GM) and Stellantis, cars originating from this Asian country currently account for about 16% of the market share in Mexico./.

Phi Hung (VietnamPlus)