Automotive Sales End Negative Streak

Mexico’s light care sales hit 104,328 in February, recording a very modest increase of 0.3 percent compared to the same month in 2019 ending 12 consecutive months of negative results, according to INEGI.

Fourteen brands reported increases in sales led by Subaru with a 117.9 percent climb over the year, followed by Isuzu with 71.2 percent, Volvo with 34.2 percent and JAC with 31 percent. Porsche and Renault also recorded increases of 30.3 and 23.5 percent, respectively.

General Motors and Volkswagen reported the biggest market share increase with 18.3 and 1.4 percent growth respectively. Sixteen other brands saw their sales contract.

Nissan, the top player in the market, saw sales reduce by 2.0 percent with 22,280 vehicles sold in the period. The Japanese, firm along with General Motors and Volkswagen, were responsible for 48.8 percent of the year’s total car sales, placing those three manufacturers on top of the domestic market.

In the accumulated from January to February car sales totaled 209,160 units, a decrease of 2.9 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Production increased

In February, production of light vehicles increased 4.5 percent over the same month of the previous year, ending nine months of annual falls, INEGI also reported.

Car production levels reached 326,183 units in February, recording the best result in 11 months. Among brands, Mazda increased its production by 85.1 percent, while Honda was placed on the bottom of the list with a 28.6 percent decrease.

Accumulated production for the two first months of 2020 reached 646,588 units, which resulted in a slight variation of 0.1 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Regarding exports, manufacturers based in Mexico recorded a 1.9 percent reduction, with 266,035 units sold abroad in February. The total export of light vehicles totaled 494,219 units from January to February, representing 3.7 percent less than in the first two months of 2019.