Fender factory

Fender’s Ensenada facility in Baja California emerged in the late 1980s, initially producing strings before expanding into amplifier parts and guitar manufacturing. With crucial support from Japan’s Fujigen, which supplied machinery, training, and production methods, the plant adopted a distinctly Japanese-style manufacturing approach. By the early 1990s, cross-border collaboration with the Corona factory blurred distinctions between U.S. and Mexican builds, and the first “Made in Mexico” Stratocasters appeared in 1991 as affordable, genuine Fender instruments. A devastating 1994 fire destroyed the plant, but Fender rebuilt a larger factory within 100 days, significantly increasing production capacity and cementing Mexico’s role in Fender manufacturing.