Smart Mobility: From Vision to Execution — A Strategic Opportunity for Mexico and North America

Electric mobility is no longer a futuristic promise. It has become a strategic variable that is already reshaping investment decisions, industrial site selection, and regional competitiveness across North America. In Mexico, the conversation has clearly evolved: the question is no longer whether transport electrification makes sense, but how to execute it in an orderly, profitable way that aligns with global value chains.

As part of our ongoing market intelligence work, Prodensa was present at the panel “Driving Progress: Smart Mobility” held during the STS Forum LATAM 2025. This article continues our blog series dedicated to sharing key insights from the event—interpreted and contextualized by our experts for manufacturers, investors, and supply-chain leaders evaluating Mexico and North America.

A central takeaway from the discussion was clear: smart mobility is not only an environmental agenda; it is a powerful driver of industrial growth and competitiveness.

From Technology to Culture

One of the most relevant perspectives came from Daniel Breton, President and CEO of Mobilité Électrique Canada, who emphasized that the main challenge facing electric mobility today is no longer technological—but cultural and structural.

Canada recently surpassed one million electric vehicles on the road, up from just over 55,000 only five years ago. This rapid growth was not driven by a single policy or breakthrough, but by the alignment of five reinforcing pillars—an experience with clear lessons for Mexico.

1. Public Information and Awareness

Misinformation remains one of the strongest barriers to EV adoption. Persistent myths around range, cost, environmental impact, safety, infrastructure, and even health effects continue to shape public perception. Yet evidence shows that even low levels of zero-emission vehicle adoption lead to measurable improvements in air quality and reductions in respiratory illnesses.

For companies, this matters more than it may seem. Social acceptance and domestic demand directly influence the viability of productive investments—from assembly plants to Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.

2. Reliable Infrastructure, Not Symbolic Infrastructure

Installing charging stations alone is not enough. Canada’s experience shows that reliability and proper maintenance are critical to building trust among consumers and industry. Investment in charging networks must be paired with operational standards, sustainable business models, and strong public-private coordination.

At the same time, concerns about grid capacity are often overstated. Most growth in electricity demand comes from industrial and population expansion—not EVs. In fact, electric mobility can support energy management through smart and bidirectional charging schemes.

3. Predictable Incentives

Incentives are effective only when they are clear, stable, and predictable. Abrupt changes in subsidies or tax benefits create demand volatility and undermine investment decisions. For companies, regulatory certainty is just as important as the size of the incentive itself.

4. Effective Regulation

International experience suggests that voluntary approaches rarely deliver results at scale. Efficiency standards, emissions rules, and EV sales targets are essential tools for creating real markets. In this context, regulation does not deter investment—it creates the market conditions that enable it.

5. Integrated Supply Chains

The electric transition is fundamentally reshaping the global automotive supply chain. Canada and Mexico—along with other strategic partners—have a unique opportunity to strengthen a regional value chain built on talent, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy.

For Mexico, this is especially relevant in the context of the USMCA and ongoing production relocation trends. Breton highlighted that an electric vehicle manufactured in Mexico can be up to 50% more expensive in the domestic market than in Canada—not due to manufacturing costs, but because of regulatory frameworks and market signals.

Market Certainty: The Variable That Explains Everything

From another angle, Aditya Ramji, co-founder of the Global South Transportation Program at the University of California, Davis, framed the entire transition around a single concept: market certainty.

Without clear regulatory and demand signals, infrastructure investment stalls, vehicles remain unaffordable, and manufacturers hesitate to introduce new models. When those signals exist, private investment flows and ecosystems begin to scale.

For Mexico—where public resources are limited—this insight is critical. Public policy should focus on a small number of high-impact levers that generate multiplier effects, rather than dispersing efforts across fragmented initiatives.

An Underestimated Domestic Market

Mexico represents a domestic vehicle market of approximately 1.5 million units per year, comparable to economies such as Thailand or Indonesia. Yet most domestic production is exported, while a significant share of vehicles for local consumption is imported.

Electrification presents an opportunity to use the domestic market as an anchor—attracting investment, reducing costs, developing local suppliers, and scaling technological capabilities. Countries with similar profiles have already reached double-digit EV market shares through consistent execution. This is not a debate between developed and emerging economies, but one of implementation.

Mexico manufactures vehicles for the global market, yet electric vehicles account for under 1% of domestic vehicle sales, highlighting the untapped potential of its local EV market.

Yucatán: Competing Without a Checkbook, But With Strategy

A subnational perspective was shared by Ermilo Barrera, Secretary of Economic Development of Yucatán, who emphasized that companies invest in regions—not countries.

Rather than relying on large fiscal incentives, Yucatán has focused on infrastructure, planning, and certainty. Through its first comprehensive industrial policy (Renacimiento Maya), the state is investing in ports, railways, highways, industrial corridors, and energy infrastructure. The Port of Progreso, in particular, is emerging as one of Mexico’s most relevant logistics projects in the coming years.

Aligned with the federal Plan México, Yucatán has identified strategic sectors where it can compete internationally, including clean-energy components and electric-mobility manufacturing. Projects such as Latin America’s first solar-cell factory and smart-meter plants reflect a long-term strategy to integrate into high-value, technology-driven supply chains.

Smart Mobility:

A holistic transportation model that integrates electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, energy systems, data, and regulation to improve efficiency and sustainability. It influences industrial planning, logistics, and regional competitiveness.

Market Certainty:

Stable and clear regulatory, incentive, and demand signals that reduce investment risk and enable long-term planning across the electric mobility value chain.

Integrated Supply Chains:

Regionally coordinated networks of suppliers, manufacturers, logistics, talent, and energy. In electric mobility, they include batteries, semiconductors, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing.

Nearshoring:

The relocation of manufacturing closer to end markets—especially within North America—to reduce risk, improve resilience, and meet USMCA requirements.

Reliable Infrastructure:

Consistently operating energy and charging systems supported by maintenance, standards, and sustainable business models, enabling EV adoption and investment.

Why is electric mobility a strategic opportunity for Mexico?

Because Mexico combines manufacturing capacity, access to the North American market, and deep automotive experience. When regulation, infrastructure, and domestic demand are aligned, the country can attract investment in electric vehicles, components, batteries, and related technologies.

What is currently slowing EV adoption and production?

The main barrier is not technology, but lack of market certainty. Unclear regulation, unstable incentives, and weak demand signals delay infrastructure investment, model launches, and supplier scale-up.

What should companies evaluate before investing in electric mobility in Mexico?

Companies should assess regulatory frameworks, energy infrastructure, talent availability, supply-chain integration, and domestic market viability, as well as alignment with nearshoring strategies and USMCA rules.

• Electric mobility is now an industrial competitiveness issue, not a future sustainability goal.

• Execution—not vision—determines who captures investment.
  Regulation, infrastructure, and market signals must move together.

• Market certainty unlocks private capital and supply-chain scale.

• Nearshoring and EVs are converging into one strategic opportunity for Mexico and North America.

• Local expertise is essential to turn policy and trends into viable investment decisions.