All major automotive manufacturers in Mexico have reduced or suspended operations at their plants after the government asked them to cut down on consumption of natural gas (NG) due to a shortage in the country.
Volkswagen México suspended production of the Jetta sedan on Feb 18 and 19 and halted output of the Taos and Golf models on Feb 19. General Motors halted production on Feb 16 and 17 at its plant in Silao, Guanajuato, and said that production will resume when adequate levels of NG are available.
Mazda Salamanca, located in Guanajuato, paused operations on Feb 17 but resumed them on Friday while Honda shut down production at its Celaya, Guanajuato plant from Feb 18-21. Nissan also plans to cut production for some days in February to reduce the consumption of NG, the carmaker said without disclosing the specific days.
Ford and Toyota have also halted operations since Feb 18 at their respective plants in Saltillo, Sonora, Tijuana, Baja, and Guanajuato, while BMW has temporarily rescheduled production in some of the processes at its San Luís Potosí plant. Audi also suspended operations on Thursday and Friday at its San José Chiapa plant in Puebla where it produces the Q5 SUV model.
Mexico’s car production fell by 15pc to 278,711 units in January, from 328,085 vehicles in January 2020, the National Institute of Statistical and Geographic Information said in a statement on Feb 8.