Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269

Orig posted 6/21 - but the like the title, it has been kept very quiet.

U.S. automakers expand in Mexico, but do it very quietly
9/1/06

MEXICO CITY For Mexico, the recent groundbreaking for a new $650 million auto factory was worth celebrating. President Vicente Fox and other dignitaries attended the event. Local executives from General Motors, the investor, flew in to the central state of San Luis San Luis Potosí, where the assembly plant now under construction is expected to eventually employ up to 1,800 people and churn out as many as 160,000 compact cars a year.

During the past dozen years, many foreign manufacturers rushed to build factories in states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, earning the trend a nickname: Detroit South. But now, Mexico is eyeing that title.

GM, struggling with its own problems, did little to publicize the new factory outside of Mexico. But while any talk of increasing production elsewhere and adding low-wage jobs in Mexico risks creating a backlash in the United States, there is no hiding the relentless advance of the auto industry here.

Automotive production in Mexico is expected to hit record levels this year, surpassing two million cars, as automakers pour billions of dollars of new investment into their Mexican factories.

The expansion, being fueled by Mexico's top five automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen - stands in contrast to the plans by GM and Ford to cut 60,000 jobs in the United States and close two dozen North American plants through 2012.

The reason for Mexico's new wave of growth is twofold: it is close by the world's largest auto market, allowing greater production integration because auto companies can ship cars and parts by truck and rail rather than on freighters, as they must do from Asia.

And it is still cheap to operate here compared with the United States, where unionized workers earn at least $27 a hour and benefits can double or even triple the total cost. By comparison, Mexico's typical auto industry wages of $3.50 an hour for experienced workers look like a bargain.

CONTINUED...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/20/yourmoney/mexcar.php