Mexico Overtakes China in Auto Investment

Foreign direct investment in Mexico's auto industry has surpassed the same type of investment in China, a Financial Times analysis shows.

The newspaper's fDi Markets data service indicates that in 2013 Mexico captured 12.6% of global foreign investment in auto industry greenfield projects compared with 12.4% for China. Mexico's share surged from 4.5% in 2010, while China's share declined from 14% over the same period.

Data for 2014 aren't available yet. But tfDi Markets notes that seven Asian and European carmakers have either opened assembly plants in Mexico or announced plans to do so within the past year or so.

The newspaper says investment is shifting from China in part because average auto industry salaries there climbed nearly 17% between 2009 and 2014 compared with 5% in Mexico. Last year, the average annual wage for an unskilled worker was about $3,600 in Mexico and $5,700 in China, according to the fDi Market analysis.