Exports from Nuevo Leon in the fourth quarter of 2023 surpassed the corresponding exports from Baja California, according to Inegi data released on Monday.

With this, Nuevo Leon ranked third among Mexico‘s largest product exporting states.

Nuevo Leon is the third largest contributor to Mexico’s GDP and exports a wide variety of manufactured products, from computers, furniture and metal products, to automobiles and auto parts.

After growing from $10.967 billion in 2021 to $12.733 billion in 2022, exports from Nuevo Leon rose to $14.249 billion in 2023.

Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon, is Mexico’s third largest city in terms of population and is one of Mexico’s most productive industrial centers. 

It is home to many of Mexico’s largest companies in a wide variety of industries, as well as several major universities.

Major companies operating in the state include Grupo Alfa, FEMSA, Cemex, Ternium, Grupo Bimbo, Gruma, Nemak, Cydsa, Vitro and Grupo Lamosa. 

Exports from Nuevo Leon

Nuevo Leon’s automotive sector includes companies such as Polaris, Daimler, Kia, Metalsa, Vitro, Katcon and Nemak.

Tesla is building a new plant in the state of Nuevo Leon as part of its production of electric vehicles, with an investment of 10 billion dollars.

This company considered that low shipping and production costs make Mexico the most cost-effective option for a location capable of producing an affordable US$25,000 electric vehicle.

Automotive Industry

Automakers are mainly concentrated in the northern region of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and San Luis Potosi. OEM plants are also based in Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Estado de México, Hidalgo, Morelos and Puebla. 

In terms of supply chains, auto parts producers are located near these plants, mainly in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Puebla, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi and Estado de México, although they are also located in other parts of the country. 

Heavy vehicle manufacturing plants are concentrated mainly in northern Baja California, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Hidalgo and Estado de México.