Garcia, NL. As a way out of the crisis in the supply chain and the increase in the cost of materials worldwide, Daimler Mexico turns its production strategy to focus on developing its engineering network of local suppliers and substituting imports, an option that will allow it to increase its sales. of buses by 20% by 2022.
The production and supplier flexibility plan has led the German brand in Mexico to invest around 4 million dollars for its reconversion and to have manufacturing alternatives, which has resulted in some 300 bus parts being manufactured in the Garcia plant, known as the Casa del Bus, as part of import substitution.
Alexandre Nogueira, CEO of Daimler Buses in Mexico, reported that an ambitious plan has been undertaken to relocate supplier companies to serve the markets, and he recognized that the lack of semiconductors or other parts has delayed their deliveries to customers by 10%. .
One of the biggest challenges facing the German automaker is to achieve an efficient transportation supply chain and raw materials that do not involve extra costs, which has led to a balance in the powertrain.
Alexandre Nogueira reported that Mercedes Benz has “an ambitious production plan and the most important thing is to achieve flexibility, there are different technical solutions and components, if a component is missing we can continue with alternatives and achieve the development of suppliers.”
The plant in García in Nuevo León produces bus chassis and powertrain, and its allied partners assemble bus bodies, including Marco Polo, Ayco, Irizar, among others.
He recalled that Daimler faced the temporary closure of operations in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected 54% of its sales, which led him to estimate recovery in four years. However, the CEO of the company reported that demand has increased and with the restructuring of production, the recovery time will be shortened.
Improve sales prospects
For his part, Raúl González, sales director of Daimler buses, reported that sales expectations improved for 2022, and an increase of 20% is expected, considering the new import substitution production strategy. “The chip issue will continue at least this year, but there are pieces that are already manufactured in the country to speed up production,” he commented.
After a 54% shock, we were projecting a four-year recovery. However, decisions to renew units in Mexico City and Jalisco boosted the reactivation of Mercedes Benz sales in the urban vehicle segment.