Why is the automotive industry moving to Mexico?

Cheap labor Fewer regulations Less taxes

Listen to "Union Sundown" by Bob Dylan.

My car is a Chevrolet. It was put together down in Argentina. By a girl making 30 cents a day.

US unions have pushed unskilled labor wages up to the point where the companies send the work abroad.

If was for cheap labor, moving to Mexico is not needed. The list is pretty long of Korean, German and Japanese car makers who have built plants in the US instead of Mexico.

The simple fact is the cost of labor to assemble a car is less then 1% of the actual cost.

There are several parts of making cars that are very toxic to the environment. Most of these items are made else where, in places with out the EPA restrictions.

Some time look at just how much automobile companies spend on "promotion". Promotion (advertising, product placement and fielding or supporting auto racing) costs more then the labor to build the car. Advertizing is by some estimates the greatest cost factor for any product. The second is packaging. For cars this includes just what new name to give to the color defined as formula 602 (number fictitious). Last year it was "Blue Azure" and now it will be called "Summer Blue". That was a six million dollar choice, but the price will be spread over the years production.

Cheap labor = more profits for the company.

Hi simple wages are far less in mexico so it makes the profit margin larger.

Less regulations. Mexican labour isn't even that cheap. VW's Mexican plant is unionized and I've read somewhere wages are $15/hr. There are southern US states that can compete with that.

They're NOT any more. Trump is putting a stop to that. They WERE moving there because union workers priced themselves out of a job. 30-40 dollars a week verses 30-40 dollars an hour sounds pretty good.

Cheap labor.

If Pedro can't get to the mountain the mountain must go to Pedro