Currently, there are over 3,300 different car brands in the world. Eighty percent of which you have probably never heard of, but they are there, doing their own thing.
Yes, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Toyota, Lexus, Kia, Hyundai, and Ford are among the popular ones, but many others are out there.
Mexico has over 40 car manufacturers offering the residents about 400 unique car models.
So that you know, Mexico is the 2nd largest in the western world after the United States of America in terms of car manufacture.
They are not joking here as their automobile industry takes up a whopping 17.6% of their entire manufacturing industry, making the Mexican car brands a vast market.
With over 26 different Mexican car brands, Mexico ranks among the top 20 countries with the most variety of car brands in the global market.
In 2017 alone, a record 4 million vehicles were manufactured independently, which is now massive.
Giants such as General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have been in Mexico since the 1930s, with Volkswagen and Nissan coming in by the 1960s with their factories firmly established.
Before diving in, let’s get some history out of the way. They might be part of the Mexican car brands, but they do not owe their origin to the country of Mexico.
Before discussing Mexican car brands, Mexico’s automobile history is almost a century old. Ford Motor Co. established the first assembly line in the country in 1925, making it the longest automobile company in operation.
They were joined shortly in 1935 by General Motors. As of today, General Motors is the leading car manufacturer in Mexico.
Chrysler came into the country in 1937. Mexico ranks globally as the 6th largest passenger and cargo vehicle manufacturer.
The excellent trade agreement and the low labor cost have made Mexico a leading automobile hub.
To date, about 42 car makers are officially rooted in Mexico, with a combined total of 400 models produced within them.
Aside from car manufacturing, the Mexican automobile industry also has other technological components and is at the forefront of research and development in the global industry.
1. Solana
As of 2003, this car brand among Mexican car brands had built forty-two cars. Solana has been in operation in Mexico since 1936.
They started with cars for small children, and the vehicles used small one-cylinder engines.
Their other cars were unique racing cars with just one seat. In May 1998, they displayed their Deportivo Series II at a conference in Dos Rios (Huixquilucan).
The Deportivo Series II later became available to the public in 1998. The series II used a Datsun engine with a 1.8-liter capacity, and the car was built on a frame of tubular space.
The Deportivo Series II owes its creation to Joaquin and Javier Solana, who were inspired by an earlier particular car built by Javier for the Carrera Panamericana in 1954.
The engine for the Series II was a carbureted engine producing only 60 horsepower, that is, 45KW of energy. The car managed to get a top speed of 195 km/h (121 mph).
2. DINA
When speaking of Mexican car brands, this company is one of the oldest. DINA stands for Diesel Nacional. It is the first company in Mexico to manufacture trucks and buses.
Its operational base is in Ciudad Sahagun, Hidalgo state. It was established by the government in 1921 but has since been owned by Grupo Empresarial G since 1989.
The company has partnership agreements with Skoda, Caterpillar, Flxible, Fiat, Chrysler, Renault, etc. Currently, the company is focused on producing short and long-distance buses.
It is worthy to note that the Mexican government established this Mexican car brand 45 years. The plant was constructed in Hidalgo in the Fray Bernardino de Sahagun city.
Fiat signed manufacturing and technical assistance agreements with the Diesel Nacional in 1942. The deal gave birth to the 682/T tractor truck, which assembled the units in Mexico.
Sequel to the 682/T tractor truck, the Fiat 600, Fiat 1 100, and the Fiat 1 400B car models were also assembled and produced.
This is probably the one car brand among the Mexican car brands to start its tractor production.
In 1956, Diesel Nacional ventured into the transportation sector for passengers with the production of their 682 RN bus model.
However, the partnership with Fiat would be canceled in January 1960 due to the high cost of producing Fiat vehicles.
This was not the end of the road for Diesel Nacional, and they were determined to succeed.
They soon found themselves in association with Flxible in 1961 and obtained a license to produce two bus models for Mexico.
The bus models were the Flxible Hi-level and the Flxliner. However, the Flxible Hi-level and the Flxliner went on a different name in Mexico, the DINA 311 “Hunchback” and the Olympic Dina.
The limitations imposed on the automotive industry by the Mexican government in 1962 placed tariffs on vehicles imported into Mexico.
The tariff barrier covered both goods and passenger vehicles and extended to the importation of components.
Diesel Nacional benefitted immensely from this new policy in the coming three decades. Mexican car brands flourished under this protective policy, among others.
In 1970, several policies aided the exportation of trucks to other Latin American countries.
The Cummins company began operation in 1968, together with the production of the NT and NH engines.
The Cummins company bought about 60% of the Motores Perkins S.A, which was also established in Mexico.
This was a move intended to challenge Chrysler in the local market, and Cummins company went ahead and signed a technological alliance with Navistar International.
The Consortium G Group DINA later bought diesel Nacional in 1989. However, DINA continued to use the Navistar engines.
3. Inferno Exotic
This supercar among the Mexican car brands will be easily recognized by enthusiasts from the 2016 Automobili in Mexico, where it was exhibited as an innovative and high-tech featured supercar.
The Inferno Exotic has impressive acceleration, reaching 100km in 3 seconds and getting to a top speed of about 400km per hour.
It took seven years to develop the design of the Inferno in-house by Dozerek until Antonio Ferrioli, an Italian designer, intervened.
The Inferno is a Mexican car brand that features a twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The engine has a capacity of about 1,400 horsepower with a torque of 670 pound-feet.
The low weight of about 1200kg and drag coefficient enable the Inferno to reach 100km per hour in less than 3 seconds of acceleration.
Dozerek developed and patented a low-weight metal foam called the Zing. The Zing is an aluminum, zinc, and silver alloy, and the metal foam has a volume density of 4.3 g per cubic centimeter.
Despite being a challenger among the Mexican car brands and the world at large, this car will be manufactured in Italy due to inadequate production infrastructure in Mexico.
The Mexican car brand can reach an incredible speed of 400 km per hour. The patented Zing alloy is capable of absorbing the impact in the case of an accident.
4. Zac
This company seems to be the most recently established among the Mexican car brands. This Mexican car brand was established in Mexico’s capital city in July 2017.
It was the first Mexican car manufacturer to begin producing and selling electric cars.
Frech Chatenet Automobiles gave out the microcar Chatenet CH30 with an internal combustion engine to enable the development of the Mexican variant, which came with a complete system.
This process gave birth to the Zacua MX3 models and the MXC coupe version.
Dynamik Technological Alliance is a Spanish company that developed the electric drive train. A Chinese partner was responsible for building the batteries.
Production began in Puebla, Mexico, in 2019. The intended market was for consumers looking for small and affordable electric cars.
The entire lineup of Zacua’s electric vehicles is only sold domestically in Mexico.
The only direct competition to this Mexican car brand is the Renault Twizy, which comes from a global market in Mexico.
However, Zacua holds its head up high because almost the entire body and the drivetrain components are manufactured from the ground up in Mexico.
5. Mastretta
Daniel Mastretta initiated this design studio turned car-company. An industrial designer established the car brand in Mexico in 1987.
This Mexican car brand launched new brands, the Unediseno and the Tecnoider, in 1990. They also recorded massive sales in this period.
The MTX model was launched by the car brand in 2010. This car was a supercar and was a massive hit among Mexicans.
However, this car company will cease operations among Mexican car brands in 2019.
