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LatinNews Regional Monitor: Mexico - 09 July 2018
Region: Corporate Radar
Armoured cars – a Mexican growth sector. Concern over crime and insecurity in Mexico has at least one upside for the automobile industry – growing demand for armoured cars. Arturo Ávila, himself a victim of various attacks and thefts in Mexico City, told Reuters news agency that sales of these vehicles by his company Share y Asociados were growing well. “One of the crimes we are concerned about is kidnapping, it is what we fear most,” he said. “Driving an armoured vehicle in certain parts of the city gives me peace of mind so that I can concentrate on my work.” According to the country’s armoured vehicle association (Asociación Mexicana de Blindadores de Automóviles, AMBA) production this year will rise by 10% to exceed the record of 3,284 units registered in 2012. There also seems to be plenty of room to grow. Of around 1.5m passenger vehicles sold in the country in 2017 only 0.19% were armoured. Prices are not cheap – after buying the vehicle a Mexican customer can pay around US$35,000 to armour plate it against small arms fire: this is a lot more than would be paid by an equivalent customer in Brazil. Because of this AMBA is looking at lease or rental options. AMBA president Ernesto Mizrahi (who is also head of Blindajes Epel) says paying a monthly tax-deductible leasing fee is a lot more affordable than having to pay one million pesos (US$48,700) up front to buy the vehicle, followed by another 1m to have it armoured up to a high standard. While much of the sector is made up of small shops that armour commercially available four-wheel drives and SUVs, some big-name automobile manufacturers are also displaying interest. In 2017 Germany’s Audi began assembling an armoured version of its Q5 range in Mexico, from where some are exported to Brazil and Argentina. BMW, Jeep, and Mercedes-Benz are also offering armoured versions of some of their models.
