January 27th,  2014 — Tire manufacturing in Mexico is poised to continue to grow, reaching eight billion U.S. dollars in annual sales by 2018, according to a research report by TechSci Research, a Canadian global management consulting firm.

Titled “Mexico Tyre Market Forecast and Opportunities 2018, the report noted that tire sales in Mexico have grown almost 19 percent every year between 2009 and 2012.

Contributing to this tire boom were domestic auto sales in 2013 of 1.06 million vehicles, according to the article “Auto Sales in Mexico Climb to 6-year High” appearing in the online edition of the “Bloomberg News” in January 2014. And the approximately 1.9 million other vehicles manufactured in Mexico went to other countries.

An important factor in Mexico’s foreign auto sales, and consequently the sales of tires, is the fact that automotive manufacturing in Mexico gets a boost because the country’s automotive products enjoy preferential status because the country has 234 bilateral trade agreements including 12 Free Trade Agreements with 44 countries. It also has 122 multilateral agreements, which include NAFTA. These agreements make possible the sale of Mexican-made cars in North and South America, Japan, the European Union and other countries.

Another reason tire manufacturing will grow in Mexico is because just 275 people per 1,000 own cars in Mexico, according to the TechSci report. This means that there’s a great market for new car sales. Mexico has a large number of truck and bus fleets, a fact that also spurs tire sales. And the retreading industry in Mexico is expanding, too.

Of course, automotive manufacturing in Mexico is why tire sales are so good. The top auto makers in Mexico are Nissan, General Motors, Volkswagen, Chrysler (selling Fiats, Alfa Romeos and Mitsubishis in Mexico) and Ford. Nissan recently opened a new plant and Mazda and Honda are expected to open ones later this year.

As for tire companies, the ones leading in sales in Mexico are Continental Tire the Americas L. L. C., Bridgetone Americas, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (via a partnership with Corporacion de Occidente S.A. de C.V.) partnership) and JK Tornel. Other players are Goodyear, the Michelin Group, Hankook Tire Co. Ltd., Yokohama Rubber Co. and Pirelli Tire.

In 2012, Pirelli built a new tire plant in Silao, Mexico. By June 2013, it had produced its one-millionth tire. By 2015 the plant is expected to produce 3.5 million tires. And in 2015 when everything at the plant is fully online, it is expected to employ 1,800 people and produce 5.5 million tires annually. This plant produces high-performance and ultra-high performance tires for light trucks and cars.
The tires produced here are sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Automotive manufacturing in Mexico and its related industries are certainly booming in Mexico.