Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
Mexican newspaper reports and official data show that plant closures and production shutdowns increased from 2025 into 2026, particularly in the automotive and auto parts sectors, as manufacturing employment continued to decline.
INEGI reported that manufacturing employment fell by approximately 48,000 workers year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025. El Economista reported that manufacturing employment declined about 2 percent in 2025, marking a third consecutive annual decrease, and described ongoing losses as “la sangría laboral,” or labor bleed.
Among the confirmed closures is Nissan’s CIVAC plant in Morelos. Nissan announced it would transfer production to Aguascalientes by the end of fiscal year 2025, which concludes in March 2026. Milenio reported the plant would be “desactivada,” and El Economista reported that 869 workers were affected.
The COMPAS plant in Aguascalientes, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, is also scheduled to close. Milenio reported operations will end May 31, 2026. El Financiero reported the shutdown will occur in phases. The facility employs several thousand workers, placing total job impacts in the thousands.
In Tamaulipas, Mexican coverage links additional shutdowns to the U.S. bankruptcy of First Brands Group. Milenio reported that Tridonex ended operations in January 2026 and that Trico Componentes in Matamoros was later affected. The publication reported that more than 10,800 jobs were lost in Tamaulipas during the first quarter of 2026, with strikes and labor actions following the closures.
In Ciudad Juárez, figures reported by Reuters and cited in Mexican coverage indicate that approximately 64,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 2023 and mid-2025 due to plant closures, relocations, and production cuts.
No single official report isolates nationwide job losses tied only to plant closures. However, combined figures from INEGI and reported regional losses indicate that manufacturing job reductions across 2025 and early 2026 exceed 200,000 positions when national declines and major regional losses are considered together. Confirmed shutdowns have resulted in several thousand direct layoffs, with continuing employment declines adding substantially to the total.
It is important to note that, according to Professor Jorge Lera Mejía of the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, the maquiladora industry along Mexico’s northern border has suffered a severe contraction, shedding more than 100,000 jobs over an 18-month period ending in mid-2024. Citing a report from the Bloque Empresarial Fronterizo, Lera highlighted that Ciudad Juárez has been the hardest hit, with significant employment losses also recorded in key manufacturing hubs across Baja California and Tamaulipas. The sustained deceleration in the sector, marked by 12 consecutive months of declining employment at the time, reflects broader economic pressures affecting export-oriented manufacturing plants in the region.
