This week on MexMoves, we interview Alejandro Preinfalk, President and CEO of Siemens Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Siemens has been in Mexico for 130 years, but recently business has been booming globally as electrification, automation, industrial AI and data centers reshape global manufacturing, driving its market value to a all-time high of $240bn. We ask how big Siemens is in Mexico today, where it is investing, whether nearshoring is still delivering, how quickly Mexican companies are adopting AI and robotics, and whether the country has enough electricity, infrastructure and talent for the next industrial wave.

We also discuss whether automation weakens Mexico’s traditional labor-cost advantage, how Mexico fits into Siemens’ global manufacturing and technology strategy, and what changes to USMCA and tighter restrictions on Chinese technology could mean for the country.

Before the interview, Eduardo and Damian break down the week’s biggest Mexico business stories:

* Flex spins off its fast-growing AI infrastructure business as Axiom Solutions International, with Mexico already accounting for roughly 35% of quarterly sales and 58% of productive assets.

* Traxión Founder, Chairman and CEO Aby Lijtszain launches a MX$13.18-per-share offer to buy up to 100% of the company, highlighting the striking disconnect its depressed valuation on the BMV.

* Liverpool brings Primark to Mexico, raising the question: can one of the world’s most successful store-first fashion retailers help Liverpool defend itself against Shein, Temu and the broader e-commerce shift?

* Grupo México closes the deal to combine its power assets with Saavi Energía to create a 4.5 GW electricity platform, as opportunities in electricity require scale, capital and it would seem local muscle

We interview Oscar del Cueto, Head of CPKC Mexico and President of AmCham Mexico, for a conversation about railways and the future of North American trade.

Oscar discusses how nearshoring is showing up in freight volumes, why Mexico still moves so much cargo by truck, the US$100 million expansion at Nuevo Laredo, border bureaucracy, security, tariffs and whether passenger rail can coexist with a growing freight network. We also ask what U.S. companies are telling AmCham ahead of the USMCA review.

First Eduardo and Damian we break down the week’s biggest Mexico business stories:

* Mexico’s 2027 budget: slower and arguably more realistic fiscal consolidation, but debt continues climbing toward 55% of GDP and potentially higher. Can Mexico protect investment grade while funding pensions, Pemex and infrastructure?

* The digital-payments surprise:  new powers for authorities could accelerate digital payments, free QR payments, and digital account opening, potentially reshaping Mexico’s payments industry and (optimists hope) moving the economy away from cash and informality

* Kapital raises US$125 million: unlike other fintechs, the neo Mexican bank has acquired legacy businesses, applied technology to improve efficiency and sustain high levels of profitability. 

* Televisa and the end of an era: after roughly 30 years, Televisa is set to leave Mexico’s flagship IPC index. We look at how one of Mexico’s most powerful companies went from dominant and hugely cash generating Mexico media gatekeeper to a smaller and less profitable Mexico telecom-focused group plus 45% effective controlling ownership of the TelevisaUnivision, still relevant but now highly leveraged US-Mexico Hispanic media group.

* Mexico Investment Week in New York: investors still like Mexico, but the constraint is turning energy, infrastructure, water, logistics and nearshoring opportunities into actual bankable projects.

We interview María Ariza, CEO of Mexican stock exchange BIVA and founder of Mexico Investment Day, now Mexico Investment Week, in New York, to discuss next week’s event and the current state of Mexican capital markets.

We also talk with Ariel Fischman, CEO and founder of 414 Capital, about the state of Mexico’s mergers and acquisitions market.

First, Eduardo and Damian discuss the following business and economic stories:

* Axtel, the Mexican telecom company that has been on the market for six years, has suddenly received two competing acquisition bids.

* Afore Coppel is, according to press reports, preparing to acquire its smaller rival, Afore InverCap, from global investment firm Advent International after 14 years of ownership.

* Mexico’s Foreign Investment Law could be reformed under a new proposal that would introduce a national security screening mechanism into the review process.

* Felix Pago, the remittance fintech, receives a sizable capital injection as it seeks to expand its services.

* Volkswagen cuts a shift at its iconic Puebla plant as the company faces U.S. tariffs and growing competition from Chinese automakers.

* Finally, cuts to credit card fees are becoming a reality in Mexico. What could the impact be?

We interview Sofía Ramírez Aguilar, head of México, ¿Cómo Vamos?, a leading Mexican think tank, on one of Mexico’s biggest economic challenges: labour-market informality, and what to do about it.

About 55% of employed Mexicans work informally, meaning they lack social-security or legal protections. Beyond that, informal workers earn less than half what formal workers make.

Sofía explains why informality has proved so persistent, and how it is connected to Mexico’s low productivity, education, gender inequalities and company size. The productivity divide is huge: microbusinesses employ 41% of Mexico’s workers but generate only 16% of economic value added, while large companies employ 29% and produce 54%. The issue is therefore not simply how to formalise workers, but how doing so can help Mexico create more productive firms and better jobs.

First, Eduardo and Damian discuss the week’s big economic stories:

* Delta-Aeroméxico wins in court: why the Delta JV is central to Aeroméxico’s network economics.

* US-Canada trade talks collapse: could Canada’s confrontation with Washington actually make a Mexico-US bilateral deal more likely?

* The Mexican economy: Banxico upgrades its 2026 growth forecast to 1.5%, helped by booming non-auto exports and electronics.

* Mexico’s AI hardware boom: Pegatron, Foxconn, Inventec, Wiwynn and Flex are helping turn Mexico into a massive supplier of servers and data-centre equipment to the US.

* Enterprise AI comes to Mexico: Primero’s US$12 million seed round and Wonderful’s Mexican expansion show how implementing and developing platforms for AI inside large, complicated Mexican companies is becoming a hot business.

Is Mexico’s economy finally turning a corner, or simply stabilizing at a disappointingly low growth rate?

This week on MexMoves, we interview Gabriel Lozano, Chief Mexico Economist at J.P. Morgan, to discuss the economic outlook for the rest of 2026: why investment is lacking, the weakness of auto and strength of non-auto exports, Mexico’s growing role in US data-center roll-out, the impact of Plan México, why the Peso is so strong, and what to expect from USMCA negotiations.

First Eduardo and Damian look at the week’s biggest business stories: the World Cup tourism boom that wasn’t, Carlos Slim’s hit from Braskem Idesa’s Chapter 11 agreed restructuring, Mexico’s growing tariff wall against China, Omnilife’s Texas manufacturing bet, rising credit-card default rates, and FEMSA and QED’s new head of Spin Credit.

Antonio Tejedo, Vice President of Investor Relations at Grupo TRAXIÓN, joins us to discuss the transformation of Mexico’s leading transportation and logistics company, from a traditional trucking operator into an integrated platform spanning freight, people mobility, warehousing, brokerage, technology and supply-chain management.

We look at how TRAXIÓN was built through acquisitions, how nearshoring challenges and tariffs are hurting the company, the shift towards a more asset-light model, and how the Solistica acquisition from Femsa is going. We also discuss investor perceptions of the company, and why its valuation is so discounted.

We also interview Mauricio Schwartzmann of PayTech Yuno following the company’s latest funding round of $45mn, on how AI is changing payments, banking and financial infrastructure. Mauricio explains why he left his plum job as Mastercard Mexico Head to join his former Rappi colleagues at startup Yuno.

Before the interviews, Eduardo and Damian discuss Tiendas 3B’s extraordinary growth in 2Q26 and how hard discount and e-commerce are squeezing traditional retailers, and ICA’s decision to buy out Fluor after more than three decades together, and what that transaction could say about Pemex paying suppliers going forward.

They also reflect on the passing of Miguel Mancera Aguayo, former head of Banco de México and one of Mexico’s most admired and consequential public servants, whose role in securing central-bank autonomy in 1994 helped shape Mexico for the good.

They discuss Kavak’s striking claims about AI transforming its business, the latest twists and turns in USMCA negotiations, and ask why the Mexican Peso is so strong and if that is a good or bad thing.

We talk to Ricardo Pintado, Managing Director at UBS Wealth Management, about how Mexican entrepreneurs and wealthy families should approach investing, succession and the differences to creating wealth from preserving it.

We discuss how a global private bank’s value proposition differs from that of a commercial bank, brokerage firm, independent adviser or family office. We also explore why there will always be room for trusted human advisers, even as AI transforms investment management and the broader financial sector.

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In the rest of the episode:

* Pemex’s stronger 2Q26 results: Revenue, production and refining improved, while financial debt declined. But questions remain.

* Mercado Libre’s blow-out 2Q26 top-line results: The company reached $10bn quarterly sales, 50% above last year. Within that, Mexico again delivered exceptional growth, with revenue up 55% and fintech expanding by more than 70%, as the e-commerce giant continued to gain share. However, weaker operating margins weighed on the share price.

* Possible SuKarne sale: The family-controlled Culiacan-based Mexican protein producer could be valued at more than US$2 billion, according to Reuters. We look at how SuKarne became a market leader by vertically integrating, selling each cut of meat around the world where it commands the highest value.

* 1H26 Mexico-US trade: Mexico’s bilateral trade surplus with the US continues to widen, as AI infrastructure exports replace automobiles as the key export driver. But Taiwan’s and Vietnam’s exports to the US are expanding even faster than Mexico’s, and they reported even larger trade surpluses with the US than Mexico. On USMCA, we examine the strategic debate between accommodating US pressure and taking a more assertive position.

* Avocado exports: Security concerns have again interrupted new shipments from Michoacán, highlighting how insecurity is acting as a break on growth.

We spoke with Gabriela Cámara, the star restaurateur behind Contramar, Entremar, Caracol de Mar and Itacate in Mexico City, as well as the recently opened Cantina Contramar in Las Vegas.

She explains why the iconic Contramar has been full for nearly 30 years, what it takes to run a busy Mexico City restaurant day after day, and why a restauranteur needs to be both businessperson and chef. We also discuss her experience opening restaurants in the United States, the global rise of high-end Mexican cuisine, sustainability, and the opportunities and tensions created by gentrification in Mexico City.

Before the interview, Eduardo and Damián discuss the week’s top Mexico business news.

BBVA México’s succession. Global risk head José Luis Elechiguerra returns home to become the new Mexico viceroy as Eduardo Osuna moves to the chairmanship after more than a decade as CEO, handing over by far Mexico’s strongest banking franchise. The new CEO’s in-tray includes managing AI & Technological change, fighting off fierce incumbent and fintech competition, dealing with regulators keen to promote financial inclusion and digitalization but unsure how to, and balancing growth versus asset quality.

FEMSA’s stock falls even as it reports blow out sales. OXXO posted almost 10% same-store sales growth on the World Cup boost. Coffee is becoming a bigger part of the strategy, and SPIN is taking its first steps into lending. Investors focused on lower gross margins at OXXO as the company pushed harder on affordability, and seem worried about a possible World Cup hangover.

Cemex’s recovery continues. Housing, infrastructure and the first signs of Plan México spending lifted cement volumes in Mexico as management continued cutting costs.

Televisa. The telecom turnaround continued, but weaker results at World Cup-free Univision weighed on the broader story.

We also cover Kia’s expanded investment in Nuevo León, stronger-than-expected GDP and trade figures, and Mexico’s decisive win (so far) in the Vulcan arbitration, which reduced a US$1.7 billion claim to about US$15 million.

This week, we speak with Francisco Ruiz Maza, Mexico Country Manager at Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the world’s leading executive search and leadership advisory firms.

Francisco explains how Russell Reynolds identifies and evaluates candidates for CEO and board positions in Mexico, what Mexican companies look for in their senior leaders, and how deep Mexico’s C-suite talent bench is. We also discuss the trends reshaping Mexican boards of directors.

Before the interview, Eduardo and Damián discuss the week’s business news:

* What second-quarter corporate results reveal about Mexico’s economy: a weak consumer, resilient banks and telecoms, strong mining earnings, and pressure on aviation.

* La Casa de Toño is reportedly exploring a sale at a valuation above US$400 million. Will potential buyers bite?

* What the Taco Bell cyclospora outbreak and its possible link to Mexican rocket lettuce could mean for Mexico’s agricultural exports and food-safety reputation.

We speak with Ana Cristina Gadala-Maria, Principal at QED Investors, the world’s premier fintech venture-capital firm and among the most active in Mexico, with investments including Bitso, Konfío, Aplazo, Covalto, Kavak, Félix Pago and FEMSA’s new lending venture.

She explains what QED now looks for in Mexican startups, why fintechs are becoming multi-product companies, and where the next opportunities lie, from cross-border payments and stablecoins to AI. We also discuss why Mexico still trails Brazil in digital payments and why QED invested in FEMSA’s new lending business, atypically a carve-out.

First, Eduardo and Damian cover the week’s business news:

* The World Cup’s smaller-than-expected economic impact, despite Mexico’s strong performance as a host.

* Weak June ANTAD sales and the changing mix of consumer spending.

* Nu’s banking licence, exaggerated claims about its size, and the harder task of turning “15 million customers” into profitable primary relationships.

* Mexico’s emerging AI-infrastructure opportunity.

* Chipotle opens its first actual Mexican restaurant.