The Swedish heavy vehicle manufacturer Volvo will build a new truck plant in the northern city of Ciénega de Flores, in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, the Mexican newspaper Reforma published exclusively and after consulting several sources of information.
Last April, as SteelOrbis reported, Volvo announced that it would build a 158,000-square-meter production plant to begin heavy truck production in Mexico in 2026. The company will produce heavy-duty trucks under the Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks brands for the United States and Canadian markets.
According to Reforma, details of the investment, location and production capacity could be reported this week from Volvo's headquarters in Sweden.
The information sources consulted by Reforma reported that Volvo has already started talks with auto parts suppliers.
Data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), seen by SteelOrbis, show that in 2023 Mexico was the world's fifth largest producer of heavy trucks in the world with a global share of 6 percent, surpassed by the United States (9 percent). percent), India (9 percent), Japan (13 percent) and China (44 percent).
In Mexico there are 12 companies producing heavy vehicles (trucks and buses); Freightliner, International Truck, Kenworth, Mercedes-Benz Autobuses, Isuzu, Foton, Volkswagen Camiones y Autobuses, Volvo Buses, Hino, Dina, MAN and Shacman (Shaanxi Automobile Group).
Volvo has a bus plant in Tultitlán, in the central state of Mexico. That city is located 26 miles from Mexico City, the largest market in the country. In 2023, of the nearly 223,000 heavy vehicles that were manufactured in Mexico, Volvo Buses only contributed 0.5 percent of the total.