Although electric cars are not abundant in Mexico, it is undeniable that thanks to Chinese brands, this type of automobile has become more accessible and has considerably reduced the price difference compared with many gasoline-powered subcompact cars. However, the party could soon be over, as it will become increasingly difficult to maintain current prices.
It is not a matter of a market-entry purchasing strategy, in which they arrive with an attractive price to attract customers and later increase the cost. In reality, the problem that all Chinese brands are facing is tariffs.
Let us remember that at the beginning of the year, the Mexican government introduced a 50% tariff on all vehicles imported from countries with which Mexico does not have a free trade agreement. Although the measure was aimed at China, it also affects other countries such as Thailand and India.
In practice, this tariff considerably increases the cost of importing each vehicle, and as generally happens in these cases, brands increase the prices of their cars in order to maintain a profit. However, this has not happened with most of the manufacturers affected by the measure imposed.
So far, most Chinese manufacturers have absorbed the economic impact, and thanks to this, models such as the BYD Dolphin Mini, Geely EX2, and Chevrolet Spark EUV (made in China) have remained around 400,000 pesos. JAC will be able to continue offering the cheapest electric car on the market, thanks to the fact that it performs the final assembly in Mexico.
To deal with the tax, several automakers increased their imports in 2025 and therefore had enough stock to meet demand during the first months of 2026. But at this point in the year, they are already importing on a regular basis, which means that the economic pressure is growing, and sooner rather than later we could see significant increases in the prices of many new cars.
In the case of electric vehicles, the situation is not as straightforward, since the fact of being more expensive would make them less competitive, as the gap between the price tag of these models and that of other vehicles would be reduced, such as the recently launched KIA EV3, which is manufactured in Mexico, and therefore does not face tariff pressure that would force the brand to raise its price.
GM could also have an advantage thanks to the quotas granted by the government to manufacturers that produce within Mexico, so the Spark EUV could maintain a contained price. This would affect Geely and BYD, which cannot afford to lose market share, so they could implement a strategy similar to the one they use in China, that is, continue selling “cheaply” at the expense of lower profit margins and hold out for as long as possible, until their competitors begin to fall.
Source: motorpasion
