Expert perspectives on nearshoring: Top 10 Red Sofa interviews on supply chain strategy

Nearshoring – the strategy of relocating manufacturing and supply chain operations closer to the end market – has become a pivotal trend in the automotive industry. The approach is reshaping automotive supply chains, aiming to enhance supply chain resilience, reduce costs and mitigate risks associated with global disruptions.

Through our Red Sofa interviews, Automotive Logistics has been asking the experts steering the trend to explain more about the benefits of nearshoring, the challenges involved in shifting their supply chains, and the evolving nature of the trend in the context of geopolitical changes. As the trend develops across North America, Europe, and other regions globally, we will update this page with the latest insights and Red Sofa interviews.

Jessica Hanson, Bosch on improving cross-border logistics

Jessica Hanson, vice-president of logistics at Bosch North America, spoke to Automotive Logistics in September to discuss cross-border logistics, digital innovations and enhanced partnerships in managing cross-border logistics.

Hanson addressed the growing complexities of cross-border logistics in nearshoring, particularly in North America with the USMCA trade deal. At the time, the USMCA deal was approaching its review date, and the then-upcoming US presidential election was uncertain. Since then, the now-elected president Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, further casting doubt on nearshoring trade.

In the Red Sofa, Hanson said that Bosch is combatting these uncertainties by ensuring strong collaboration and relationships. “We have to ensure that we have very strong supply chain collaboration with our entire supply base and all of our partners including border crossing partners, because it’s very difficult to mitigate any type of risk or implement contingency plans if you don’t have a very good relationship with your supply base,” Hanson said.

“We also focus on diversification of supply base, dual sourcing, diversification of carriers and ports of entry, for example we have this upcoming situation with the east coast ports contract expiration.”

She added that it is important to then build on those relationships to help encourage further investments in advancements and compound their benefits.

“We are also challenging ourselves and our logistics partners to further invest in technology advancements, in automation and in tools that can allow for better predictive analytics,” Hanson said.

VW’s Anu Goel on thinking regionally in FVL

Anu Goel, executive vice-president of group after sales & service, Volkswagen Group has been bringing together North America’s US, Canada and Mexico vehicle logistics divisions under a Virtual Task Force to explore more opportunities that are beneficial for the region as a whole.

He said that VW previously thought of its supply chain in North America as individual networks in the US, Canada and Mexico, but each country’s ports, rail systems and road systems are interrelated and impact each other. “Decisions that would be made in one country had knock-on effects elsewhere with our network,” he said.

He said the first thing he did was to look at things from a VW Group North America perspective, and then align on KPIs across the region. “If you asked how many cars are on the ground in a specific country, some countries would include or not include port inventory, some would or would not include off site storage. We needed to just get some basic KPIs down now, so we understand the magnitude of the problem,” Goel added. Thirdly, he said the group started looking at systems transparency to ensure that data and information can be shared across subdivisions of the group.

“We need to think about the North American Region (NAR) for the group,” Goel said. “We have PowerCo battery plant up in Canada, we don’t have a manufacturing plant in Canada, so those batteries are going to need to get to Chattanooga, they need to get to Mexico. If you start looking at logistics, inbound and outbound, as a group, you will find different opportunities and solutions.”

READ MORE: VOLKSWAGEN GROUP’S NORTH AMERICA VEHICLE LOGISTICS APPROACH SAVES COST AND DELIVERY TIME

Nissan’s Gerardo De La Torre on centralising digital strategies to spur regional growth

At the inaugural ALSC Digital Strategies North America in July, Gerardo de la Torre, regional senior director of supply chain management in the USA & Mexico for Nissan Group of North America spoke about his role in centralising digital strategies across the North American region. 

To boost the regional supply chain as a whole, De la Torre has been ensuring data centralisation.

“It’s been a very big journey and I really appreciate all our team that have dedicated a significant amount of time to collect all the data that we have officially from our suppliers,” he said. “We are in this journey of digitalisation, and we are aiming to see how we can become much more efficient, how we can use data to enable decisions to be made in a faster and better documented way.”

READ MORE: DE LA TORRE ON NISSAN’S DIGITAL SHIFT

VW’s global logistics experts on synergy in the supply chain

Logistics executives from VW Group, VW America, PowerCo, Navistar, VW Truck & Bus Mexico and Volkswagen de México packed onto the Red Sofa to speak about how they are creating new opportunities together.

Christoph Hartmann, head of transport networks at VW Group Logistics says that VW’s footprint in Mexico is expanding more than ever before. “There are tremendous opportunities in collaborating to find more synergies, better processes and more sustainable processes,” he says. “This group of managers have developed tremendous momentum in gaining collaborative status, so we can really find a new way of working together in the North America region.”

How Nissan is reinventing supply chain partnerships in a nearshoring era

Dayan León, parts logistics subdirector at Nissan Motor Corporation, shared how nearshoring is reshaping partnerships in the automotive supply chain. He highlighted the importance of trust, flexibility, and digitalisation in building resilient logistics strategies for the future.

León underscored the need to look beyond conventional models of partnership, advocating for a more dynamic approach that allows for experimentation and adaptation. “Partnership means creating the future together,” he explained. “It means thinking outside the box, and to define operations and start testing together, and be wild, dare to fail because in failing you start to create, and after a couple of tests you’ll have a new process, new infrastructure and new capacity.”

Hugo Villicaña, Brose North America on enhancing resilience in Mexico-US cross-border logistics

Hugo Villicaña, transportation manager for Brose North America, shared insights into navigating the complexities of cross-border logistics and nearshoring.

“The transportation management team is quite a new initiative, and the whole idea behind this mindset is centralising the transportation operation in a team that is able to take the right decisions, find efficiencies and provide savings for the organisation,” he said.

“The second initiative that we will get rolling is our Mexico Consolidation Centre (MCC). It’s a new location that will be providing warehousing space for all of our Mexico plants and probably in a future evolutionary state we will also use it to consolidate volume coming north and south,” Villicaña added, “so that will also allow us to gain efficiencies, save money and create a better network design with that centralised location acting as a centre of gravity for our fleet.”

GM’s Monica Garcia on EV supply chain expansion and long-term collaboration

Monica Garcia, GM’s director of global purchasing and supply chain in Mexico, oversees a multi-billion-dollar budget. She shared how GM is navigating a rapidly evolving automotive landscape, and the importance of building resilient supply chains by extending partnerships beyond tier-one suppliers as the OEM builds EVs in Mexico and builds out its supply chain.

Garcia highlighted the importance of building resilient cross-border supply chains by extending partnerships beyond tier-one suppliers. By fostering transparency and open communication, GM aims to ensure stability in an industry often disrupted by logistical challenges.

“Our focus is on long-term relationships, sharing production forecasts, and working with suppliers to align on capacity and investment planning,” said Garcia. This collaborative approach enables GM to navigate market fluctuations while driving efficiency and sustainability.

“We want to continue to be the number one in the market and we always say that relationships matter. By this we mean having a good partnership, open communication and transparency in the way we do things,” she said. “Please give us the preference we think we have earned during this period of time. We rely on the collaboration and cooperation from our business partners with this increasing competition.”

How Bocar is championing Mexican localisation

Leonardo Martins, global logistics director at tier-one supplier Bocar Group spoke about the company’s decades-long foothold in Mexico and how it is focused on strengthening its suppliers during a time of threat from a competitive, growing Chinese market.

He said Bocar is investing “a lot of money” in better, more efficient transport for parts deliveries.

“We are focused on our tier-n supply chain providers, and Bocar is investing money, time and training to make it a stronger partnership and make our supply chain healthy. We are investing in our relationship with them to support them,” he said. “The demand is here and we need to tend to that and we can’t leave our supply chain behind.”

He added that the growing trend of nearshoring is meaning more aggressive competition.

“Bocar took a very good decision 25 years ago [to have a base in Mexico] so nowadays we are spread across Mexico near our customers, and we have our operations in Huntsville and our warehouse in Tennessee too, so we are well-prepared to fight back against this nearshoring competition,” Martins said. “Chinese OEMs are coming to Mexico strong with low prices, and Bocar is fighting back with efficiency in transport, guaranteeing relationships with our supply chain, and quality of parts.”

BMW’s Dr Michael Nikolaides on cross-functional decisions in the supply chain

BMW has learned how to better steer its network through volatile times through combining business divisions to make cross-functional programming decisions in its supply chain, according to its senior vice-president of production network, supply chain management and logistics, Dr. Michael Nikolaides.

He said that by working across divisions and thinking regionally as a group, the OEM can change production and logistics plans quickly to avoid crises.

“For example, during the Red Sea crisis, we have to reroute material around Africa, which lead to a lead time increase of four weeks and we did not stop for a single hour in any production site,” he said. “The success factor was because we were flexible, we could shift.”

Nikolaides said that through combining functions of the business, the OEM learned how to better steer its network in volatile times.

“First, you need to think about where and how resilient you want to set up your supply chain production system resilience,” he said. “The second factor is digitalisation and the availability of data. You need real-time data to make decisions. And the third thing is you need to have the right people to make decisions.”

Toyota México’s Lizette Gracida: “Mexico’s nearshoring is a historic opportunity with strategic challenges”

Toyota reaffirmed its nearshoring confidence at the end of last year, investing $1.4 billion in Mexican hybrid vehicle production. Lizette Gracida, senior director of external affairs and trade compliance at Toyota México, highlighted nearshoring’s transformative potential. While acknowledging Mexico’s historic role as a nearshoring hub, she stressed the need for comprehensive strategies to fully capitalise on its opportunities.

“Nearshoring is a historic opportunity for Mexico,” Gracida remarked, noting that geopolitical shifts and the USMCA agreement have accelerated regional integration. However, she expressed concern that new investments primarily come from established companies, while smaller tier two and tier three suppliers face significant barriers.

Gracida emphasised the necessity of improving Mexico’s ranking on the Savills Nearshoring Index, currently at 15th place. Key obstacles include limited logistics infrastructure, clean energy availability and complex trade facilitation processes. She advocated for a national master plan to address these areas, improve competitiveness and attract foreign direct investment.

“We are committed to collaborating with the government to ensure Mexico can seize this opportunity,” she said.