History
Forty years of Japan in the Bajío: from Aguascalientes to Apaseo el Grande
In March 2026 Nissan closed CIVAC, its first plant in Mexico, and moved the output to Aguascalientes. The closure sums up forty years: the centre of gravity of Japan's auto industry in Mexico has moved to the Bajío.
Origination and structuring of USD 5–50 million infrastructure projects across the Bajío.
Let's discuss your projectBajío Ventures · June 2026 · Japan in the Bajío, 1 of 5
On 26 March 2026 the last Frontier left the line at CIVAC, in Morelos. Nissan began building cars in Mexico at that plant in 1966; in sixty years it produced 6.5 million units. Its output went to Aguascalientes.
The closure sums up forty years of history: the centre of gravity of Japan’s auto industry in Mexico has moved to the Bajío.
Four stages
| Stage | Years | What arrived |
|---|---|---|
| Pioneer | 1982–1992 | Nissan engine plant in Aguascalientes (1982) and A1 assembly plant (1992) |
| Treaty | 2005 | Mexico–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement; Jatco’s first CVT transmission plant in Aguascalientes |
| Assembly wave | 2013–2019 | Nissan A2 (2013), Mazda in Salamanca and Honda in Celaya (2014), Toyota in Apaseo el Grande (2019) |
| Consolidation | 2025–2026 | CIVAC closure (March 2026) and end of COMPAS (set for 31 May 2026) |
Aguascalientes: first the plant, then the school
Nissan opened its engine plant in Aguascalientes in 1982. The Japanese School of Aguascalientes opened the same year, first as a company school and, from 1997, as a full-time school recognised by Japan.
The A1 assembly plant followed in 1992 and can now build up to 65 vehicles per hour. A2, an investment of about USD 2 billion, opened in 2013 to build the Sentra.
The 2005 agreement
The Mexico–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force in 2005. That year Jatco, the Nissan group’s transmission maker, started its first CVT plant in Aguascalientes; the second followed in 2014 with USD 220 million.
According to Japan’s consul general in León, about 300 Japanese companies were in Mexico when the agreement entered into force. In 2025 there were about 1,500.
2013–2019: Guanajuato enters the map
The assembly wave concentrated in Guanajuato:
- Mazda, Salamanca. The first Mazda3 left the line on 6 January 2014. Until December 2020 the plant also built a subcompact for Toyota.
- Honda, Celaya. Opened in 2014 with USD 800 million and added a USD 470 million CVT transmission plant. It started with the Fit; since 2016 it builds the HR-V.
- Toyota, Apaseo el Grande. Opened in December 2019 to build the Tacoma pickup. Cumulative investment now exceeds USD 2 billion.
- Hino, Silao. The Japanese truck maker (since April 2026 part of ARCHION, together with Mitsubishi Fuso) invested more than USD 100 million in 2019 to build its 500 Series.
Suppliers came with them. Denso announced its Silao plant in 2012; Hirotec opened at Guanajuato Puerto Interior in April 2013; Toyoda Gosei started in Irapuato in 2016.
The community
In January 2016 the Consulate-General of Japan in León began operating, Japan’s first consulate-general in Mexico. Its district covers Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas. In 2019 the Japanese School of Guanajuato opened in Irapuato.
| Indicator | 2016 | 2025–2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese companies in Guanajuato | 80–90 | ~150 |
| Japanese residents in the León consular district | more than 3,000 | ~5,000 |
2025–2026: consolidating in the Bajío
The Re:Nissan plan, announced in May 2025, cuts Nissan’s plants worldwide from 17 to 10 by fiscal year 2027. In Mexico that meant closing CIVAC and concentrating output in the two Aguascalientes plants. COMPAS, the Nissan–Mercedes-Benz joint venture in the same state, had its closure set for 31 May 2026; Infiniti production there ended in November 2025.
The reading
The Japanese base in the Bajío is no longer arriving; it is consolidating. The investor’s question changes from “who is coming” to “which plants run at full capacity and what do they need to keep running”. The next instalments of this series answer that question: output by plant, the supply base, tariffs and energy.
In this series: 1. Forty years of Japan in the Bajío · 2. The Bajío’s Japanese automakers by the numbers · 3. 150 Japanese companies: the Bajío supply base · 4. 15 versus 19: the tariff · 5. Powering the Bajío’s Japanese plants
Bajío Ventures is a Mexican energy infrastructure investment group based in Guanajuato. We originate and structure USD 5–50 million projects across the Bajío corridor.
Sources: Motorpasión México, CIVAC closure, Mar 2026 · Cluster Industrial, Nissan and Japanese investment in Aguascalientes, Aug 2025 · Embassy of Japan, Japanese schools in Mexico · just-auto, Jatco second plant, 2014 · Consulate-General of Japan in León, Consul General speech, Feb 2025 · S&P AutoTechInsight, Mazda Salamanca, 2014 · Expansión, end of the Yaris R at Salamanca, 2020 · Honda de México, 10 years of Celaya, 2024 · Cluster Industrial, five years of Toyota Guanajuato, 2025 · MarkLines, Hino Silao, 2019 · MarkLines, ARCHION, Apr 2026 · Cluster Industrial, Hirotec, 2023 · El Financiero, “León becomes the Tokyo of the Bajío”, 2016 · Cluster Industrial, Guanajuato and Japan, Feb 2026 · Bloomberg Línea, CIVAC closure and Re:Nissan, Jul 2025 · Mexico Business News, COMPAS closure, Oct 2025
Origination and structuring of USD 5–50 million infrastructure projects across the Bajío.
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