General Motors has just announced that it will stop manufacturing the Chevy Onix at the San Luis Potosí plant, located right in the center of Mexico. Surprisingly, the automaker announced the drastic corporate decision in the Latin country’s media, reporting that it will end Mexican production of Chevrolet‘s most modern subcompact car in the middle of this year.
The head of GM Mexico’s communications department stated that the Chevy Onix will stop being built at the Mexican plant in May, as part of a new manufacturing strategy at the facility – where the company’s crossovers are also manufactured – namely the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain. However, the Onix will continue to be sold in that country with units imported from China.
“This vehicle [Chevy Onix] will continue to be sold in our market, Mexico and Latin America,” said Director of Communications and Public Relations of GM Mexico, Teresa Cid, in a statement. “GM has the capacity and flexibility to produce its vehicles at any of its plants around the world, so it periodically reviews its plans to determine what best suits its manufacturing strategy in order to meet market demand,” she added.
Production line at the GM San Luis Potosí plant
GM will end Chevy Onix production in Mexico after a short and turbulent period of local manufacturing. The second-generation Onix began to be built at the San Luis Potosí plant in December 2019, with the projection of being the company’s highest-volume vehicle in the Mexican market, but just as the plan started, it was severely affected by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Chevy Onix production in the Latin country faced multiple setbacks, such as the forced closings of the plant and the global shortage of semiconductors that never allowed it to prosper as GM had planned. In fact, systemic difficulties in the supply chain caused this industrial adjustment that concentrates Onix manufacturing in China as well as in Brazil – where vehicle assembly will once again be temporarily halted.
It should be noted that the Chevy Onix sedan is the only car that the company currently builds in Mexico, so its imminent exit from the production lines will make GM’s Mexican subsidiary an exclusive manufacturer of crossovers and trucks. After two and a half years of local manufacturing, the Onix units for the Mexican market will be assembled at the GM Dong Yue plant in the Chinese city of Yantai.
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Comments
… huummm the same, thought it was only offered in S. Paulo State, Gravataí and Shanghai…
Chinese crackpipe production (CCP) syndrome strikes GM again!. First sedans were too expensive for US production, then South Korea, now Mexico. Why not source it from SA or sell it in America to offset cost?.
They probably also look at things like production capacity when making decisions like this. I imagine that overall, what makes them the most money wins the argument though.
As said, the Spark and Sonic although wasn’t big sellers they’re bestsellers it’s class. Also in another thread I’d mention GM could make the same vehicle in 2 factories if need be if production constraints happen. IIRC Ford in the ’80s had Escort and Crown Victoria roll off the same assembly line but some 30 or so years later domestic companies are incapable of flex manufacturing?, what a crock or a habit to hit the Chinese crackpipe…
But if the Crown Vic was far more popular and far more profitable, wouldn’t it make sense to shift all your production to that in your more expensive factory, and move the Escort to someplace cheaper?
That’s probably what we’re seeing here.
No it wouldn’t, it don’t make sense to keep propping China up if the company mastered flex manufacturing on this side of the market, in the article GM used the excuse of COVID starts/stops, what looks like they testing Mexican buyers of how much Chinese crack they can import before they rightfully get angry for non- Latin American auto replaced by Chinese production.
Guestt… The Chevy Sonic and Spark where not American vehicles they where Korean made! The Chevrolet Aveo (/əˈveɪ.oʊ/ ə-VAY-oh) (sold as Chevrolet Sonic in North America and parts of Asia since 2011) is a subcompact car manufactured since 2002 (by Daewoo from 2002 to 2011), marketed worldwide in 120 countries under seven brands (Chevrolet, Daewoo, Holden, Pontiac, Ravon and Suzuki).[2 The Chevrolet Spark (Korean: 쉐보레 스파크) is a city car manufactured by General Motors’s subsidiary GM Korea, currently in its fourth generation. So how is a Korean made GM car ok but a Chinese one is not?? So I can’t buy a Toyota built in Japan because American workers didn’t build it?? I will buy what I want regardless of where it’s made this isn’t the 1950’s where things where 100% American unfortunately those days are long gone thanks to crooked politicians who make deals with foreign companies but don’t support their own American companies if GM and Ford where givin the takes breakes that Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia have then they would build more here and pay American workers.
The Spark is Korean but the Sonic was built in Michigan with Bolt and Mexico for US/Mexican operations. GM Ford and Chrysler side of STA was never 100% American production as even the Model T was made in China, U.K., Latin America for those markets which is good. The problem is Chinese operations keep being used to make cars for other markets, not good.
This is also the fault of the “American Way”… A lot of companies are getting tired of paying people $60,000-$100,000 thousand dollars a year for an “Affordable living wage”. I hate to say this but for the amount of money you have to make to get buy in this country is ridiculous… And here we wonder why American companies are going overseas to build products it’s not just GM… there are a ton of companies that don’t make products here but are American based. I am not for Commission or Socialism… But our Capitalism has also failed… Unless your a rich politician!
They go overseas because they wanna be cheap. Mind you I’m not one of those “$15 minimum wage” crowd but certain skills require more pay.
We should have been worried about the Chinese twenty years ago… We should have nipped it in the bud back then but it’s to late now to many politicians getting payed, to many major corporations are over in China making money… We should have supported American made back then!
Guestt & Chevy Man.
The Spark current generation is build in tow locations: GM Changwon for all Chevrolet marketed ones (and back then the Holden Spark for Australia & New Zealand) and currently also in Vietnam.
The previous Spark was made in Changwon until the new generation arrived. The old generation was made in India as the Beat and in Colombia as a CKD called locally the Spark GT.
The Sonic had three names: Chevrolet Sonic, Holden Barina and Chevrolet Aveo. The latter only sold as that in Korea and Europe. GM Korea made it for Mexico only as 2011 Sonic and then GM Mexico built the Sonic starting in 2012 for Mexico market all Central America and the Caribbean and most of South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay 6 Chile) with multiple engine choices for the SA market.
GM Orion built it for the USA, CAN and MEX. The MEX one was exclusively the Sonic RS Turbo from 2014 to 2016.
GM Korea kept making it for most of the rest of the world, South Africa, Austraila / New Zealand (as the Barina), Russia, Middle East, Europe all of it (believe it or not even in UK as the Chevrolet Aveo, HB only).
But also, it was made in GM Thailand for Thai market & Vietnam) and for a couple of years when there was a plant in Phillipines.
And last but not least, it was made in China as well for the Chinese market exclusively.
There were versions with NO airbags all the way up to 10 Airbags depending on the market and it had 1.2L, 1.4L (NA & Turbo), 1.6L, 1.8L and a 1.7L TD.
It was a true global car and together with the Trax, Encore, Holden Trax and Opel /Vauxhall Mokka which were all siblings under the same G1 architecture GM sold more than 1 million vehicles for 2-3 years before declining to other great ideas on SUV / CUV fashion. GM was unable to pin another global architecture since then. It was only, and years later (which put them out of time) when the Onix and its siblings under the same architecture, although divided by mature markets and emerging markets, named the JB & 9B (Encore GX, Tracker, Trailblazer and alike) were launched with much fanfare.
Now the Onix is being stabbed in Mexico. It has had a lot of acceptance and has been in very low supply due to the shortage of the chips and who knows what other misfortunes and poor planning.
I wonder if there is more to the story here, i.e. has GM decided on a higher value product to produce in SLP? Considering that Equinox production is ending in Canada shortly in favor of BrightDrop, perhaps they intend to make more of them in Mexico. It’s not clear the percentage of Equinoxes from Ingersol, Ramos Arizpe, and SLP, but it seems that Canada was likely providing at least 40% of overall production to the US.