Kia will invest $649 million in Mexico between 2026 and 2028 to build a battery-electric vehicle in the country for the first time, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced at President Claudia Sheinbaum's morning press conference on July 29.

The production line starts up on August 4 at Kia's plant in Pesquería, Nuevo León. The vehicle currently ships from Korea. Ebrard framed the project under Plan México, the government's industrial policy push to raise domestic output and local content.

The jobs math is concrete. Ebrard said the program creates 500 new jobs this year and 1,500 additional direct jobs between 2027 and 2030. National content on the EV will start at almost 27 percent, a figure he said will keep rising.

"It means an expansion of the production possibilities of the automotive industry in our country," Ebrard said. He called higher national content "a priority objective of Plan México."

His read on the timing carried the sharper message for the trade. "In an era of so much uncertainty regarding the automotive industry, the tariffs, the new rules, et cetera, et cetera, the fact that this decision is being made means that this company, which is one of the most important in the world, is experiencing productivity in Mexico and is seeing opportunities, investment in the country," he said.

President Sheinbaum welcomed the announcement. "Kia's investment shows confidence in our country and the second thing is the boost to electromobility, which means the production of an electric vehicle and the network of stations to be able to charge these vehicles," she said.

Andy Kim, CEO of Kia México, said the company has grown alongside the Mexican economy and reaffirmed its commitment to becoming the "most strategic and reliable" partner for shared prosperity. Neither Kia nor the government named the specific model moving to Pesquería.

Ebrard added that the project reflects "an effort that has been made so that more and more vehicles destined for our market and also for export are produced in Mexico."

The wider portfolio gives the announcement its financial backdrop. Mexico's investment pipeline now holds 1,186 projects worth $404 billion, according to Ximena Escobedo, Undersecretary of Industry and Commerce at the Economy Ministry. She said the portfolio spans projects in final phases, in planning, and already running. Another 13 projects have immediate authorization through the President's Investment Office, concentrated in telecommunications and energy.

For the Mexican supply base, the 27 percent national content figure is the number to track. That share determines how much Tier 1 and Tier 2 work — battery packs, wiring harnesses, power electronics, stampings — shifts to local suppliers as volumes ramp toward the end of the decade. Ebrard's office did not publish a volume target for the line.

The claim also lands amid tariff pressure on Mexican-built vehicles in the U.S. market, which Ebrard himself cited. Whether the Pesquería EV serves domestic buyers, exports, or both will shape how suppliers calibrate their own capacity commitments around Nuevo León.

What to watch: the August 4 line startup at Pesquería, the pace of hires against the 500-job commitment for this year, and any disclosure of the model name and volume plan from Kia México.