The Bajío's Japanese automakers by the numbers

Bajío Ventures · June 2026 · Japan in the Bajío, 2 of 5

In 2025 Mexico built 3,953,494 light vehicles, according to INEGI’s administrative register. Japanese brands (Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Acura) built 1,334,912: 33.8%. One in three vehicles made in Mexico carries a Japanese badge.

Most of them come from the Bajío. Six Japanese plants in Aguascalientes and Guanajuato produced 1,108,745 units: 28% of the national total.

Plant by plant

Plant	City	2025 output	Capacity use	Models
Nissan A1	Aguascalientes	345,439	92.1%	Kicks, Versa, March
Nissan A2	Aguascalientes	183,245	75.1%	Sentra
Toyota (TMMGT)	Apaseo el Grande	204,867	78.8%	Tacoma
Honda	Celaya	191,700	95.8%	HR-V, Acura ADX
Mazda	Salamanca	174,524	69.8%	CX-30, Mazda2, Mazda3, CX-3
COMPAS (Infiniti)	Aguascalientes	8,970	28.7%*	QX50, QX55

*COMPAS capacity use includes the 57,063 Mercedes-Benz GLB units built at the same plant.

Two states, two profiles

Guanajuato was Mexico’s top producer in 2025, with 877,463 units (22.1% of the total). The three Japanese automakers contributed 571,091: 65%. General Motors in Silao built the rest. That is three brands, three cities and three different markets: a midsize pickup, a subcompact SUV and a compact range.

Aguascalientes was second, with 594,717 units. Nissan (including Infiniti) built 537,654: 90%. The remaining 57,063 were Mercedes-Benz GLBs at COMPAS, whose closure was set for 31 May 2026 (Infiniti production there ended in November 2025). From June, practically all of the state’s vehicle output comes from one company.

2025 trends

• Toyota in Apaseo el Grande grew 44.7%, driven by the Tacoma. At brand level, including its Tijuana plant, Toyota grew 26.6% in Mexico. It is the only one of the four that clearly grew.
• Honda Celaya (HR-V and Acura ADX) fell 1.5% and ran at 95.8% of capacity. In the first quarter of 2025 it reached 117%, thanks to the Acura ADX.
• Mazda fell 16.6% (from 209,303 to 174,524 units) and its exports fell 37.6%.
• Nissan fell 1.7% in Mexico (from 669,941 to 658,536).

What the CIVAC closure asks of Aguascalientes

CIVAC built 122,320 units in 2024, at 76% of its 160,000 capacity. Its 2025 output, estimated by difference from INEGI data, was about 121,000. The Frontier, the NP300 and the Versa move to Aguascalientes.

On 2025 data, spare capacity in Aguascalientes is smaller than that volume. Our calculation, from each plant’s output and capacity use:

Plant	Implied capacity	Spare capacity in 2025
A1	~375,000	~29,500
A2	~244,000	~60,800
Total	~619,000	~90,000

Fitting 121,000 units into 90,000 of spare capacity requires one of three things: more shifts or more capacity, lower total Nissan volume in Mexico, or both. Any of the three changes the electricity profile of the two Aguascalientes plants.

The reading

• The plants above 90% (Nissan A1 and Honda Celaya) have the most stable demand and are the most likely to need extra capacity.
• Mazda is the most variable plant: its volume depends on exports, and exports depend on the tariff. That is instalment 4 of this series.
• Aguascalientes concentrates its automotive risk in one company. Guanajuato spreads it across four.

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: INEGI, Administrative Register of the Light Vehicle Industry, December 2025 · Cluster Industrial, Aguascalientes closes 2025 with 594,717 units · Cluster Industrial, Guanajuato closes 2025 with 877,463 units · Mexico Business News, Guanajuato 2025 output · Cluster Industrial, Honda Celaya and the Acura ADX, Apr 2025 · Cluster Industrial, 12 years of Mazda Salamanca, Mar 2026 · Motorpasión México, CIVAC closure, Mar 2026 · Mexico Business News, COMPAS closure, Oct 2025