The TMASC Region
Texas plus four Mexican states, on one corridor.
The Texas-Mexico Automotive Supercluster is a bi-national manufacturing cluster and the strategic framework describing it. It runs from Dallas–Fort Worth down the I-35 / MX-85 / MX-57 corridor through Austin, San Antonio and Laredo into Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí.
Everything on this page comes from the 2024 TMASC study commissioned by Bexar County, or from the public data underneath it. It includes the places the region scores badly, because a site decision made on the strengths alone is a site decision that gets revisited.
A point of precision
TMASC is not a grant program, an incentive package or a scheme you enrol in. There is nothing to apply to and no funding to receive from it. It is a description of an industrial region, documented in studies commissioned by Bexar County in 2008, 2012 and 2024.
What a manufacturer leverages is the ecosystem itself: the supplier density, the crossings, the utilities and the institutions — and the ability to navigate them.
Interactive · 1 of 3
The corridor, state by state
Select a state to see its supplier base, employment growth and dependence on the motor vehicle industry.
Supplier scale profile
311 supplier plants are counted across the five states. The size profile is where the states differ most: Texas carries the small and mid-sized suppliers, while Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas carry the large ones.
Where production moved
Light vehicles up. Heavy commercial down.
Light vehicles
The region gained 4.0 points of North American share in a decade, the largest gain of any region. It rose from 6.2% to 10.2% between 2012 and 2022. The gain came mostly from Canada, which lost 7.5 points, not from the U.S. Midwest, which slipped 2.9. The U.S. South gained 3.4 points over the same period: that is the competitor to watch.
Since the study · July 2026
Toyota announced a $3.6 billion second assembly line at its San Antonio plant, transitioning Tacoma production from Baja California over about four years. The study counts Baja California in the Pacific region, so this moves production from Pacific into TMASC. Analysis
Heavy commercial vehicles
The counterpoint, and it is rarely shown alongside the first chart. The region lost 2.5 points of heavy commercial share while the Midwest gained 4.1. The region remains second by share, but the direction is against it.
Workforce
Employment grew on both sides of the border.
Around 170,000 new motor vehicle manufacturing jobs were created in the region over the decade, and growth outpaced national averages on both sides of the border. Texas employment rose from 31,000 to 47,000. The Mexican hubs rose from 243,000 to 400,000, though they have not yet recovered their 2019 peak.
Inside Texas the composition shifted. Dallas remains the largest hub at 45% of state employment, but San Antonio's share grew from 15% to 25%. Coahuila remains the largest Mexican hub at 44%.
Cost
Labor cost per dollar of output.
The study measures labor compensation divided by industry output, by state, for 2022. Texas sits well below the Midwestern and Southern states it competes with. That is output doing the work, not cheap labor. Mexico's very low value reflects different national data and a wage differential, not a productivity result.
Read as one ranking these figures mislead. Texas competes on productivity; northern Mexico competes on labor cost. The region's real advantage is holding both inside one supply chain.
| State | Ratio |
|---|---|
| Mexico | 0.01 |
| Texas | 0.32 |
| Michigan | 0.48 |
| Wisconsin | 0.50 |
| Tennessee | 0.54 |
Source: Macro Foresight, TMASC report (March 2024), p. 24, published by Bexar County. Data: 2022.
Batteries
The battery cell capacity gap.
North American cell capacity was about 55 GWh a year in 2021. Everything announced for 2030 adds up to roughly 1,000 GWh. If EVs reach 80% of a 23.4 million-vehicle market by 2040, the cells required come to about 1,653 GWh a year, leaving a gap of roughly 653 GWh even if every announced plant is built.
Above roughly 50% EV adoption, announced capacity stops being enough. Cell plants are sited on power, water and a very large parcel, not on incentive packages, which is why this gap matters to the region.
| Measure | GWh |
|---|---|
| Capacity, 2021 (supports about 0.6 million EVs) | 55 |
| Announced capacity, 2030 | about 1,000 |
| Demand, 2040, at 80% EV share (18.7 million EVs) | 1,653 |
| Gap in 2040 if everything announced is built | about 653 |
Source: Macro Foresight, TMASC report (March 2024), p. 40, published by Bexar County. Data: 2021, with projections to 2040.
The report assumes 77–100 kWh packs; an 88 kWh average is derived from the report's assumptions.
Recruitment
Five project types the region can recruit.
Ranked from least to most capital. The cheapest depend least on the region's weak points (sites, power and skills); the most expensive depend on them most. Prioritize by infrastructure dependency, not by the size of the announcement.
| Project type | Capital | Jobs | Dependence on sites, power and skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters functions | US$20–100 million | 100–500 | Low. Brings the high-skilled roles the region is shortest of |
| Software and R&D center | US$30–80 million | 50–600 | Low. The cheapest way to move up the value chain |
| EV assembly | US$100–500 million | 300–1,300 | Medium. Competitive only with a cell supply answer within trucking distance |
| Medium and heavy truck | US$200–500 million | 100–800 | Medium. Freight volume through the region is the demand case |
| Battery cell plant | US$2–7 billion | 2,000–2,500 | High. Gated on power, water and a site of 250 acres or more |
Source: Macro Foresight, TMASC report (March 2024), p. 63, published by Bexar County. Data: 2023.
Dependence ratings are TMASC Consulting's own assessment.
Interactive · 2 of 3
The region is not equally good at everything.
The 2024 study benchmarked the region against four peer regions for five kinds of investment. Select one to see how the region actually scores, and what that investment is decided on.
Interactive · 3 of 3 — read this one
What the region is short of.
The 2024 study named three gaps. I name them to clients in the first meeting, because each one has a lead time measured in years and each one can end a project late and expensively.
Megasite availability
A cell plant or a new assembly line needs a prepared parcel in the hundreds of acres, with utilities already at the fence. Shovel-ready megasite development was identified as a high-value, high-complexity project for the region — meaning it matters and it is not solved.
Workforce skills depth
Output rose over the decade; the high-skilled share of Texas motor vehicle employment did not: it fell from 13.1% to 10.7% (2012–2022). Computer and mathematical employment rose from 4,000 to 9,800, and the study projects about 50,300 by 2040, an increase of roughly 40,000. Science and engineering graduates run below the national rate per head. This is a supply-of-graduates problem with a lead time closer to fifteen years than five.
Electric grid stability
Generation capacity and grid availability were both flagged for investment. For an energy-intensive plant, firm power is the first question asked in diligence and the one most likely to disqualify an otherwise good site.
Source: Macro Foresight, TMASC report (March 2024), published by Bexar County. Data: 2012–2023. The same study identified headquarters relocation, EV manufacturing, battery plants, medium and heavy truck manufacturing and software-focused R&D centers as the region's priority investment types.
Next step
Test your own site or corridor against this data.
The scorecard above is regional. A decision is made at the level of one substation, one crossing and one supplier. Tell me which site or corridor you are weighing and I will say where this data helps and where it does not.
Or write to hello@txmxautomotive.com · +1 210 861 1464