Analysis by Crossborder Group Finds Tijuana #1 City in North America for Medical Device Manufacturing Employment
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Gaining Altitude: Aerospace industry report by Crossborder Group shows 7,300+ employees in Tijuana
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FACT: there are 29 aerospace industry firms operating in the City of Tijuana, Baja California.
FACT: based on a company survey of each of those 29 firms, Crossborder Group found average Q2-2011 employment totaling 7,313 workers, making Tijuana the Mexican city with the largest number of aerospace cluster employees within 400 miles of the US-Mexico border.
These are just two of the many findings in a recent aerospace industry white paper developed by Crossborder Group for the City of Tijuana Economic Development Corporation (DEITAC) and released at this year’s Paris Air Show by DEITAC and Baja California business and economic leaders. As with most of Crossborder’s business projects, (more…)
CrossborderInforma: Shifting Leadership? Trends in Mexico’s Maquiladora/IMMEX Industry
Download: PDF briefing on 2010 Mexico maquiladora/IMMEX trends
Crossborder Group has just completed an analysis of the most-recent INEGI data for Mexico’s maquiladora/IMMEX industry — some findings of which are presented at right in our CrossborderInforma briefing (download here, or by clicking on the image [PDF, 175kb]). Beyond the fact that Mexico’s IMMEX companies are continuing their rebound from the 2008-2009 recession — ending 2010 with a respectable 1.81 million employees (9.1% growth year-over-year compared to December 2009) — several other findings stand out:
- Border states captured only 63% of the nearly 165,000 jobs created in the maquiladora/IMMEX sectors in 2010;
- Nuevo León has surpassed Baja California for second-place in terms of total IMMEX employees (despite the negative security image, Chihuahua remains in first-place); and… (more…)
Super Bowl 2011 Remains “Súper” In Mexico
Last year, we gave a little background on “Fútbol Americano” (or “football”, as it’s known to most of those in the United States), and it’s growing
GoogleTrends - Mexico: "Super Bowl"
base of fans in Mexico and Latin America (read our Feb. 2010 article here). With Green Bay ahead in the second-quarter, we thought we’d sip our cervezas, munch on some delicious guacamole (using aguacates de Michoacán), and check out GoogleTrends again — here are the results:
Got a Question for Border Crossers? Try Crossborder’s Quarterly At-Border Survey Services
Since we started doing at-border surveys in 2003, one of our goals has been to make finding information out about this binational marketplace more affordable — and to provide useful data to businesses and policy makers without waiting for infrequent (and really expensive) studies… Our recent CrossborderInforma briefing about crossborder holiday shoppers and their economic impact on San Diego (read it here), in fact, reflects those goals.
Crossborder's At-border Survey team in Mexico
Well, today we’re happy to announce a new Quarterly, at-border survey service –pre-scheduled times each quarter to ask 4 to 8 of your questions at very affordable prices (check out our Quarterly Omnibus Survey flyer in PDF, here or below). This at-border survey service uses trained, bilingual Crossborder staff with PDAs, and can cover the entire California-Mexico border (San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico, Calexico East and Andrade — with other POEs optional).
Got questions you want to ask border crossers? Download our CrossborderSurveys Quarterly Omnibus overview — and contact us today about our Spring and Summer 2011 survey sessions (multi-season discounts available!). We can help you answer questions about the hundreds of thousands of border crossers people that make up the US-Mexico border economy!
Download the 2011 CrossborderSurveys Quarterly Omnibus Overview
Questions? Email us at Answers[at]CrossborderBusiness[dot]com.
Border Surveys: Crossborder Holiday Shoppers Leave the Green in San Diego Stores
Download: PDF CrossborderInforma Brief on Crossborder Shoppers
Crossborder Group has released initial findings from their December 2010 (Winter Quarter) at-border surveys, conducted among nearly 1,000, randomly-selected northbound car, SENTRI, and pedestrian travelers at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry. These results (download PDF at right) highlight nearly 800 responses from Mexico-residing visitors into San Diego and their Christmas Holiday purchases in San Diego County.
“Since 2003 we’ve been surveying border crossers, and have repeatedly asked Mexican shoppers to estimate their household expenditures on Christmas gifts purchased in San Diego,” explains Kenn Morris, President of California-based Crossborder Group and it’s Mexico subsidiary, Crossborder NS, S de RL de CV. “This last Holiday season, Baja California visitors estimated that they’d spent $536 dollars per household on Christmas gifts purchased in San Diego — that’s an enormous and positive economic impact that the public should know about.” (more…)
Mexican Peso Strengthening – Lowest US$ Exchange Rate in 2+ Years
The Mexican peso has reached its strongest exchange rate against the U.S. dollar since October 2008 — 12.07 pesos to US$1 — benefiting some in the domestic market, while bringing back some concerns about a “Super Peso” for those that are involved with (or depend upon) cash inflows from the United States.
Possible Return of the Super Peso in 2011?
As seen in the graph at right (developed by Crossborder Group and based on historic Banco de México peso exchange rate data [showing the official rate to resolve currency obligations]), the peso was last at these levels in early-October, 2008, during a time in which the peso depreciated by 20-30% from 10 pesos per US$1.
A variety of factors appear to be creating this peso-strengthening trend: a still-slow U.S. economic recovery, concerns about certain European markets (and the stability of the Euro), and the contrasting relative fiscal/economic stability in Mexico. In fact, recent efforts by the Calderon Administration to increase foreign reserves to over US$113 billion and secure a US$73 billion two-year line of credit from the IMF, while maintaining Government debt to just over 2% of GDP, will likely contribute to some continued strengthening of the peso for at least the first half of 2011.
A new Super Peso could lead to increasing costs for international visitors to Mexico, as well as a higher cost for production in the foreign-dominated IMMEX/maquiladora industry — potentially undermining some of Mexico’s competitive strength internationally. Crossborder Group will continue to track this issue throughout 2011, and can provide insights into potential impacts on your market or industry — contact us at answers[at]crossborderbusiness.com for more information.
Crossborder’s Research Data Highlighted in Article
We must admit: it’s nice when your work gets some recognition — so it was a real treat for our Mexico market research staff to see data from some recent industry research being used in by the San Diego Union Tribune in a recent article (“Tijuana group aims to change city’s image” – August 8, 2010, by Sandra Dibble).
Tijuana Employment by Sectors - Data by Crossborder Group
While the print edition included two graphics (including some data we provided on the number of IMMEX/maquiladora firms in major Mexican cities), the online edition included the graph at right — which shows approximate employment numbers for various tech clusters in Tijuana based on research our team did over the last few months (including medical devices, aerospace, and others).
One piece of new information (which didn’t really get covered in the article) was our estimate of Call Center employment in Tijuana. This is an emerging industry not just in Tijuana, but other parts of Mexico as well — and one that has much potential for growth (particularly given the bilingual nature of the US-Mexico border States). Look for more research from Crossborder Group on this topic in the coming months….
Our Two Pesos: Time to Make the San Diego-Tijuana Crossborder Airport Terminal a Reality
US-Mexico Border & Tijuana's Airport (TIJ)
For those keeping up on border infrastructure issues in the California-Baja California region, some quiet progress has been happening that could dramatically shape the future of the binational sister cities of Tijuana and San Diego. On July 23, the U.S. State Department issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) [link] for Otay-Tijuana Venture, LLC’s proposed crossborder airport terminal — followed even more quickly than some (including ourselves) could imagine with the issuance on August 4 (only hours ago, as of this writing) by Secretary of State Clinton of the Presidential Permit required to authorize moving forward on the project [link to announcement].
While many may not be familiar with this project, the concept has been discussed at various governmental levels (and various levels of interest) since at least 1991 — the year that Mexico’s Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA) proposed an expansion of Tijuana’s International Airport (TIJ) that included two runways and a US terminal in Otay Mesa. More recently, a local economic development organization, the South County Economic Development Council (SCEDC), has championed the concept, resulting in a positive preliminary study in 2007-2008 by the San Diego Airport Authority. Our own firm, in fact, included questions about the crossborder terminal concept in our own at-border surveys for several years — a few results of which are presented at bottom — finding that over one-third of San Diego residents that crossed the border had flown out of TIJ at least once within the last year. (more…)
Crossborder Insights: After Recession Pitstop, Is Mexico’s Auto Industry Racing Ahead?
New data from several major automotive manufacturers signals a recovery, and a shift toward expansion and increased foreign direct investment into Mexico’s automotive industry.
Mexico Automotive Brief - Download PDF Here
Mexico’s automotive sector experienced a steep decline in production and investment in 2009 due to the global economic downturn. In fact, by January of 2009, production of cars and light trucks had fallen to less than half of January 2008’s levels — a trend which continued throughout most of 2009. However, several major OEM’s have recently announced plans for production or supplier expansions in Mexico over next few years.
Research and analysis conducted by Crossborder Group (in PDF at right) shows that (more…)
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