The Mexican industry does not ignore such an important industry as mechanical engineering. Many factories are concentrated in the north and center of the country, where vehicles of various brands and types are produced. In particular, Mexicans collect cars, trucks, specialized and passenger cars of the world’s leading brands. Among them are Mercedes Benz, BMW, General Motors, Nissan, FORD, Honda, VW, Chrysler, Toyota, and others. There is a small share of their enterprises, among which Mastretta design stands out. It launches the author’s Mastretta MXT supercar.
What is Mexican Car Brands?
Mexican car brands include DINA, Inferno Exotic Car, Zacua, Solana. The list of defunct companies includes Mastretta, Mexicana de Autobuses, S.A. de C.V. (MASA), Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos.
DINA
The name of this automaker stands for Diesel Nacional. Moreover, it is the first enterprise in Mexico engaged in the production of trucks and buses. Its base is in the city of Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo state. This is a government project founded in 1921. Since 1989, it has been owned by Grupo Empresarial G.
Throughout its existence, the company has maintained partnerships with Skoda, Caterpillar, Flxible, Fiat, Eaton, Chrysler, Renault, Spicer, Cummins, PerkinsScania, etc. Foreign companies have contributed to improving the manufacturability of transport equipment and the accumulation of rich experience. Now the basic products of DINA are short-distance and long-distance buses.
Inferno Exotic Car
The supercar brand appeared in 2016 at Automobili en México and immediately attracted the attention of connoisseurs with its innovative look and high-tech innovations. The specialized house Dozerek, LTM Hot Spot, and the Italian designer Antonio Ferrioli has been working on it for seven years. The car accelerates to one hundred kilometers in less than three seconds, reaching speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour. The hypercar’s wings are made from the patented Zinag alloy – a metal foam made of silver, aluminum, and zinc.
Zacua
The young Mexican company entered the automotive industry relatively recently – in 2017. It is located in Ciudad de Puebla (Mexico City), where it presented its debut cars of the same name – the MX2 and MX3. It is a subsidiary of Motores Limpios SA de CV, which has launched its brand to improve the country’s economic and technological situation. The brand name is taken from the natual dialect, in which “zacua” is the name of one of the popular local birds.
Mastretta
It is not only an automobile company but also a design studio. Daniel Mastretta initiated it. An industrial designer founded it in 1987 in Mexico City, where its head office is still located. The auto company’s special peak of activity came in 1990 when several series of cars rolled off the assembly lines under the Unediseño and Tecnoidea brands.
In 2010, the company presented a car of its design – the MXT model. The supercar was a success, and the Mastretta is mistakenly credited as the first mass-market car manufacturer in Mexico. Before him, other brands also produced their cars: DM Nacional, VAM, Ramirez Industrial Group, Dina (in the 50s of the last century). It’s just that their production was not as large-scale as that of this brand.
Mexicana de Autobuses, S.A. de C.V. (MASA)
Founded in 1959, the carmaker almost immediately began producing buses – double-decker city and international tourist buses. Until 1988, it belonged to the government and was located in Tultitlán. The company was then privatized, making it the second-largest bus factory in Mexico. In 1998, Volvo bought it, renamed it Volvo Buses de México, and closed it down.
Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos
This manufacturer appeared in 1946 as Willys Mexicana. In 1963, he changed his name to VAM, following an agreement between the Mexican government and the American Motors Corporation. At first, the company was engaged in the production of Willys-Overland jeeps and later switched to cars and trucks’ assembly under leading automotive brands’ licenses. During the economic collapse of all of Mexico in the first half of the 1980s, the country’s leadership was forced to sell its stake in VAM to Renault, which closed the plant in 1986.
Solana
The Solana family founded the private car brand in 1936. The company is engaged in the manufacture of children’s, racing, and sports cars, most of which exist in a single copy. In total, the arsenal of the enterprise includes 42 cars (for 2003). Most of the debut models were single-cylinder options for children, as the family is seriously into motorsport. Its most famous representative is Moisés Solana. He has raced family cars and competed with his signature sports car in Formula One.
Ramirez
This automotive company is called Grupo Industrial Ramirez. She appeared in 1946 and became the first Mexican manufacturer of vans and pickups. The basis of the Ramirez logo is a block letter “R” in light gray.
Rebaque
At first, it was a racing team formed by Héctor Alonso Rebaque. Gradually, she took up the design of her own sports car based on the Type 79 chassis with the participation of Geoff Ferris and John Barnard. The Rebaque logo was adorned with two-line handwritten italic lettering. The text is on a white background and colored green.
Does Mexico have a car brand?
The automotive industry in Mexico is very developed, but it produces mainly products of foreign companies: Toyota, Chrysler, VW, Honda, Ford, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Mercedes Benz. The country also has its car brands, although there are not so many of them.
What is the most popular car brand in Mexico?
Nissan cars were popular in Mexico in 2020. In 2021, nothing has changed in this regard: the Nissan Versa remained the leader, the second place was taken by the Nissan NP300, and the third – by the Nissan March.
