ZHENGZHOU, CN. – Yutong currently has four manufacturing plants for buses, trucks and vans in China, and a fifth plant is under construction to expand its manufacturing capacity.
Although the original equipment manufacturer already has nearly a thousand buses circulating in Mexico, and a good number of cargo vehicles in testing for the last mile segment, the automaker has decided that, for the moment, it does not plan to install a plant on Mexican soil .
“Setting up a plant requires a huge investment and a company must always find a balance between this investment and its return. In this sense, Yutong, a responsible company, analyzes this step in depth and carries out feasibility studies,” explained Michael Ren, general manager of Yutong Mexico.
He said that the Chinese company’s policy is not to install plants that are not sustainable in the long term, which, in addition to not being profitable, put at risk the sources of employment that may be generated .
“We do not want to invest in the markets and then have the plant not be able to maintain normal operations because it does not have continuous orders or lacks the right product for the markets. We cannot have staff turnover because that would be irresponsible,” he said.
However, since Mexico is the country on the American continent with the highest sales volume, Ren explained that since the beginning of 2024 the manufacturer has already been conducting a study in Mexico and a verification of the market .
The general manager of Yutong Mexico explained that the brand has a greater presence in the country every day, its sales have been growing progressively and this year it will close sales of around 600 units and projects that for the next few years it will reach an average of sales of a thousand buses annually.
“If we have continuous orders, we can guarantee the normal operation of the plant and this would be the basis for the investment. We believe that in 2025 we can have a strategic decision to invest in an assembly plant with the right form and the appropriate model for Mexico, because more than an investment, it is an action of responsibility for the brand,” said Ren.
