Mexico launches US$112m heavy vehicle renewal drive

Mexico has launched a MXN 2bn (US$112.4m) programme to modernise its ageing heavy vehicle fleets, encompassing tax incentives, state-backed financing, and tightened import controls under the Sheinbaum government’s broader Plan México industrial strategy. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced the initiative alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum, and described road transport as the “backbone of the Mexican economy”.

The programme’s centrepiece is a change in depreciation rules that effectively allows operators to deduct the full purchase cost of a new domestically produced heavy vehicle within a single fiscal year, against the current four-year standard. Officials estimate the MXN 2bn tax deduction budget could accelerate fleet renewal by up to six times, potentially enabling around 60% of the country’s operators to access replacement schemes.

A separate MXN250m guarantee fund, administered through state development bank Nacional Financiera, targets so-called “man-truck” and “woman-truck” operators—in other words, the owners and operators of very small fleets that comprise a large share of the sector but lack the capital to upgrade. Officials have estimated that the fund could mobilise up to MXN6bn (US$336.7m) in total financing once leveraged.

The programme’s safety rationale is built on hard numbers: the national heavy fleet averages 19 years of age, and this has been cited as a major contributing factor to the roughly 30,000 accidents heavy vehicles face in the country annually. A new Official Mexican Standard will establish mandatory requirements covering braking and lighting systems, indirect vision mirrors, and seat restraints, applying to new, used, and imported units alike.

On the trade front, the Ministry of Finance will update reference prices for used vehicle imports to close undervaluation gaps that have historically disadvantaged domestic producers. The industry body ANPACT, whose Executive President Rogelio Arzate described the programme in a statement as a “strategic decision”, estimates that road transport carries more than 80% of Mexican goods and supports some 200,000 manufacturing jobs. “The modernisation of the fleet is a pressing necessity,” he emphasised.

While the immediate focus is fleet renewal rather than electrification, Plan México’s broader framework does include a permanent 86% tax deduction for electric and hybrid heavy units—a provision intended to outlast the current programme’s window. For independent operators, Euro VI diesel remains the realistic near-term step; the charging infrastructure that would make electrification viable at scale simply does not exist yet. A lack of motion to deploy charging infrastructure in the US means Mexico may have to tighten its bonds with Chinese players to see meaningful change on this front.