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Last Updated on: 17th July 2025, 01:57 am

EV sales get all the coverage, but EV manufacturing is as important (if not more) in the sustainability of this transition and the political will to support it. Latin America, despite its relatively small vehicle market, has a significant vehicle manufacturing base, be it because of the protection of the largest markets in the South (Brazil, Argentina) or because of the integration of North American Production Chains (Mexico). Alongside, many smaller actors present at least some semblance of local production through assembly lines, including Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The notable absence here is Chile, which chose decades ago to forego local production and closed its last vehicle assembly line (from GM) in 2008.

EVs were slow to insert into these production lines: if you remember our report from a year ago, there were big promises in Mexico (mainly from Legacy Auto) and Brazil (mainly from Chinese brands). 10 months on, it’s time to check how things are going:

Brazil rises with the BYD Seagull, more vehicles coming

On July 1^st, BYD announced the production of the first ever BYD Seagull in its plant in Camaçarí:

BYD is a company made by engineers and one of the companies that invests the most in research and development in the World. All this technology is now present in our Brazilian factory.

It took us only 15 months between starting work and delivering the first experimental vehicle on our production line. This is a historic moment not only for BYD, but for the future of sustainable mobility throughout Latin America. We chose Bahia because of the strength of its people, its skilled workforce, and because we believe in the transformative potential of this region.

The factory is set for 150,000-unit annual production, with the possibility to expand to 300,000 during a second phase. Alongside the Seagull, BYD announced imminent production for the BYD Song and King, and presented a flexi-fuel engine of 1.5 liters jointly developed between Chinese and Brazilian engineers, further convincing me that the future of Brazil’s (and likely Argentina’s) zero-emissions ecosystem will have a huge presence of ethanol-based PHEVs.

It does not end here. Even though there are no official reports yet, BYD seems to be developing a local, midsize pickup truck based on the BYD Song that will sit below the already available BYD Shark. The company has also been producing e-buses and e-trucks in its plant in Campinas, recently delivering 17 of its D9W urban buses to São Paulo.

Brazil’s EV production is not limited to BYD. GWM announced it will start local production of its Haval H6 later this month, in HEV and PHEV versions; meanwhile, Chery is locally producing several variants of its Tiggo, but I couldn’t find information on whether that includes the PHEV version, or only the EV one — if any of our Brazilian readers could clarify that, that’d be great.

Aside from Brazil’s “big three” (in the EV segment), there’s local production of e-trucks by VW, with its e-delivery truck, as well as several small brands like Induscar, a local bus producer with at least one e-bus in its portfolio. Heavy vehicles are not a significant part of Brazil’s market yet (accounting for only 0.7% of sales in June), so it’s natural that production has not risen all that much.

Mexico waits as Trump derails Legacy Auto’s electrification plans

Unlike Brazil, Mexico’s vehicle manufacturing has always looked elsewhere, and, specifically, north. Mexico produced some 4 million vehicles in 2024, of which only 1.5 million were sold in the country (talk about overcapacity). The rest were exported to countries in Latin America and, crucially, to the ginormous US market (and also Canada).

In normal times, having a highly internationalized industry with loads of foreign investment and competition means more competitive and efficient production, providing significant advantages in the long term. This is why Mexico’s industry has risen over Brazil’s during the past couple of decades.

But these are not normal times.

Whereas Brazil’s EV push was always about Chinese brands trying to gain a foothold on a large, yet highly protected market, Mexico’s EV push was led by Legacy Auto and its interest in profiting off the US market. With Trump at the helm, it’s not clear if EV sales can keep growing in the US. Hence why Mexico’s EV production seems currently on standby.

A year ago, we found local EV production from General Motors, Stellantis (Jeep), Ford, and JAC, as well as plans to produce in the future by BMW, Kia, RAM, and SEV. BYD, Jetour, and MG also announced local production at some point before quietly (or not so quietly) backing away. So, let’s check all these out.

Mexico has been core to GM’s Ultium strategy, and production seems to remain fairly consistent despite the threat tariffs represent. Ford, likewise, has sustained decent production from the veteran Mach-E, surpassing all GM models individually but still behind the combined production from GM’s plant in Ramos Arizpe:

Meanwhile, JAC’s EV production has gone down the drain. For a while, it seemed like JAC could become the hub for EV production for Latin America, but the recent push from the brand seems to involve Chinese-made vehicles, with JAC’s Hidalgo’s plant focusing on ICEVs:

Mexico also produces the Jeep Wagoneer and the RAM 1500, but we cannot determine at this point how many of these are EVs, and, since sales have not been all that high, we simply assume they don’t count for much right now.

The bad news does not end here. Kia hinted at local production of its EV3, but since Mexico is facing tariffs as high as South Korea, the plan seems to have been quietly abandoned. Likewise, we reported a year ago that SEV would open a plant in Durango, but a year and a half later, there’s no record of that plant ever opening nor SEV starting local production, so either it’s extremely delayed, or it was quietly abandoned.

Now, on to the silver linings: BMW planned to invest significant money to turn its plant in San Luis Potosí into one of its five EV production centers from 2027 onwards, and these plans seem to remain in place despite Trump — but, still, it’ll be a while until we see an electric BMW made in Mexico. MG, the Sino-British company, also announced significant investments in the country, turning it into a regional hub, and as of January, it confirmed this was still its objective, but no more information has been provided since.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, announced a project to create Olinia: a Mexican-designed EV “for the people.” However, this project, should it ever come to fruition, will take at least a few more years to develop.

At last, there’s token production of electric trucks by Kenworth and International, numbering 44 units throughout the first six months of 2025.

Buses and mini cars: smaller players appear the radar

Large, competitive countries with developed industries get the sexy segment: cars, trucks, and SUVs. Smaller countries normally get buses and mini-cars, and as much as these lack the cool factor, I’d argue they’re even more crucial for a clean city and a sustainable transition than your average SUV.

First in today’s list, Reborn Electric Motors, a Chilean startup born in 2017, seems to have locally developed its three models, of which it has built over 100 since 2022, even exporting some of them to Brazil. Tricahue, the largest one, carries 44 passengers and uses a 372 kW Quebeçois motor (from DANA) and a 281 kWh CATL battery, good for 200 km of range. I only found out about this company when writing this article and, frankly, I’m quite impressed: local development is not common, with most local “production” normally being the bodywork, and occasionally the assembly of an imported chassis.

Following, we have Colombia. Already, several e-buses had their bodywork finished in the country during the past round of purchases by Bogota, but given the country’s commitment to e-buses, BYD announced it was interested in the full local assembly of its chassis. Earlier this month, the first locally assembled articulated bus went off of the assembly line thanks to a cooperation between BYD (who provided the parts), Hino (who did the assembly), and Marco Polo (who built the bodywork). This vehicle is expected to cost $510,000, which is only around 30% more than an equivalent diesel bus (and will surely be recovered rapidly in fuel and maintenance costs), and will be BYD’s core offer for Bogota’s mass-transit system in the upcoming bidding to purchase at least 160 new articulated e-buses for the three new lines in Bogotá’s BRT system.

Peru and Ecuador also have locally produced buses (at least for the bodywork), but it seems not many of those have been sold yet: we’re talking about the E-Titan in Peru and the Quantum+ in Ecuador, the latter of which has a few units already working in Galapagos.

At last, we get to Bolivia, home of the mini-car (or quadricycle) company Quantum. The small company was born more than 6 years ago. Frankly, I did not expect it could survive, but it seems to be doing well, producing over 300 mini-cars a year, exporting to 5 countries, expanding into e-motorcycles, and recently presenting the E-bus Quantum in alliance with Sundong, which is currently being imported but plans to start local assembly in the near future (and more so as Bolivia keeps facing significant gasoline and diesel shortages).

So, this is it. I may have missed some vehicle, bus, or truck here or there, but overall, that’s the general situation of EV manufacturing in Latin America. Hopefully, Brazil’s gains in know-how will be transmitted to other countries in the region, Mexico will overcome its current stagnation to bring Legacy Auto into the 21^st century in Latin America, and e-buses will keep gaining ground in cities through the region as local manufacturing makes it easier for politicians to support them.

But the gist of the issue here is that as local EV production further develops, the region will have less of an incentive to defend the incumbent technology (of the internal combustion engine) and more of an incentive to promote the transition to greener, cleaner transportation.