• SHORTAGES: Shortages of natural gas and blackouts across Mexico -linked to frigid conditions in Texas- have affected manufacturing operations of 10 automakers across the country, sending thousands of workers home and prompting calls for government to guarantee energy supply.
• AUTOMAKERS: On Thursday, Kia, Ford and Nissan announced “technical shutdowns” in some of their plants in Mexico this week responding to power shortages and moderate energy consumption. Previously, Toyota, Mazda, GM, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Audi had done the same.
•STOPPAGE: “It is a (two-day) technical stoppage due to the conditions in the energy sector in general, and in order not to contribute to the saturation in energy consumption”, Víctor Alemán Soto, spokesperson for the Kia Motors’ car plant outside of the city of Monterrey, told El Norte newspaper.
•LETTER: In a joint letter, leaders of Mexico’s auto sector trade groups asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for support reminding him that manufacturing of transportation equipment represents 18.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
