Electric car battery manufacture begins in Mexico
In response to a directive from the Mexican president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) is developing a new battery manufacturing facility to help make Mexico a global leader in electromobility.
On Monday, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the facilities that the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) will build in Querétaro to manufacture batteries for vehicles and produce electric motorcycles.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release that this project is part of the investment attraction portfolio of the General Directorate of Global Economic Impulse (DGIEG) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended, on behalf of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, and the Undersecretary, Martha Delgado, by the General Director of Global Economic Impulse, Iker Jiménez Martnez.
Also, there was Sandy Scullion, president of Powersports Group, Mario Gebetshuber, director of the BRP plant in Querétaro, Graeme C. Clark, Canadian ambassador to Mexico, and Marco del Prete, Secretary of Sustainable Development for the Government of Querétaro.
More than 520 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs will be created by BRP's investment of more than 1.3 billion pesos.
First investment in Mexico for the manufacture of electric batteries
This is the first time that Mexico has gotten money to make batteries for electric cars.
BRP has had a presence in Mexico since 2007, and since then has expanded its capabilities to make Mexico its global production hub. Currently, around 70% of its employees worldwide work in one of the four plants it has in Mexico, from which it exports to more than 120 countries.
The new plant will produce the brand's first two models of electric motorcycles, as well as batteries for EVs, to meet the goal of having at least 50% of the units sold by 2035 be electric.
This projection coincides with the priorities of the General Directorate of Global Economic Impulse, which, since June 2021, has served as the Mexican government's investment attraction and international promotion agency.
It is important to note that the DGIEG and BRP, together with more than 165 business, industrial, and academic stakeholders, have collaborated in the U.S.-Mexico Working Group for the Electrification of Transportation, an initiative promoted by the Foreign Ministry in coordination with the University of California.
Iker Jiménez assured us that this is, without a doubt, a milestone for the national industry and serves as a reference for the ambitious projects we are implementing so that this transition becomes a reality.
