Mexico gives reprieve to illegally imported “chocolate” cars

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has long had a problem with illegally imported cars, and now President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is pledging to legalize them all. The mainly U.S. cars are known in Mexico as “chocolate,” a play on the word “chueco,” or crooked. Mexicans can legally import later-model cars that meet pollution and safety standards, as long as they pay import duties. López Obrador said many poor families need cheaper cars to get to work, but auto manufacturers and dealers say the measure will fill Mexico with junk cars precisely at a time when the auto market is suffering.