Escobedo underpins Mexican truck production growth in June
International Motors plant sees 18.8% jump in June production compared with May
Keiron Greenhalgh | Staff Reporter July 14, 2026 1:00 PM, EDT
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
Mexican production of Class 8 trucks continued to rise in June as sales climb across North America, with an escalation in output at International Motors’ Escobedo plant outpacing that of its peers.
International’s Escobedo plant built 4,181 trucks in the most recent month, an 11.6% increase year over year from 3,748 vehicles in June 2025, an 18.8% increase compared with 3,519 trucks in May and a 43.4% jump versus 2,915 trucks in April.
Capacity at the Escobedo facility declined in April 2025 when a second shift at the plant was axed, with 900 employees losing their jobs.
A representative for International declined to comment on whether any jobs had been added as a result of the increase in the number of trucks rolling off Escobedo’s production line, citing a quiet period before parent company Traton Group earnings are released July 23.
International’s second-quarter 2026 sales fell 8% year over year to 16,200 trucks and buses from 17,600 vehicles in the year-ago period, Traton said July 10. However, sales rose 21% compared with the first three months of the year.
Even better North American sales figures are expected for the third quarter of 2026, Traton noted in comments accompanying the Q2 data, with ACT Research data released July 3 showing June orders rose by more than 100% year over year for the fifth consecutive month.
Commercial vehicle production up 7.6% in June
Overall, Mexican heavy-duty commercial vehicle production rose 7.6% year over year in June to 15,262 trucks and buses from 14,189 vehicles in the year-ago period, according to the country’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
Exports of trucks and buses in June climbed 3.2% to 12,730 vehicles from 12,331 vehicles in the same period a year earlier, the institute said July 10.
In the first half of 2026, original equipment manufacturers built 70,876 trucks and buses, a 13% decrease compared with 81,456 vehicles in the year-ago period. Some 97.5% of these vehicles were trucks.
Mexico exported 58,260 heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the first six months of 2026, a 14.5% decrease compared with 68,148 trucks and buses in the same period a year earlier. The U.S. was the destination for 92.3% of the heavy-duty commercial vehicle exports in the first half of the year.
Daimler Truck North America’s Freightliner unit, International and Paccar’s Kenworth division produced a combined 14,735 trucks in Mexico in June, accounting for 96.6% of all commercial vehicles built in the country in the month. The three truck makers’ Mexican plants produced a combined 13,878 vehicles in May and 11,755 trucks in April.
Freightliner’s Saltillo and Santiago Tianguistenco plants built 9,379 trucks in June, a 9.6% year-over-year increase compared with 8,554 trucks in the same month in 2025 and a 0.3% increase compared with 9,348 trucks in May.
Through the first half of 2026, the plants manufactured 44,380 trucks, a 5.9% decrease compared with 47,174 vehicles in the year-ago period.
Production at Kenworth’s Mexicali plant fell 0.5% year over year in June to 1,175 trucks from 1,181 trucks, but was up 16.2% compared with 1,011 trucks in May.
