Mexican Sales, Production Figures in Detail
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Mexican Sales, Production Figures in Detail

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Alejandro Enríquez By Alejandro Enríquez | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Thu, 06/10/2021 - 16:18

Sales and production in May showed a prominent recovery compared to May 2020, when production operations had stopped and most sales floors remained closed. Sales grew 103.8 percent year-on-year and 14.6 percent on accumulated figures. Production accumulated figures recovered by 38.7 percent while year-on-year production reported a 956 percent recovery in May alone.

Jose Roman, President of Nissan Mexicana, Mexico's top seller with 21 percent market share in 2021 and the second largest carmaker in the country, told MBN that "The automotive market operates in cycles. The sales cycle had reached its peak and was in a lower phase decline when the pandemic arrived. We already hit the vertex of the curve and now we are again moving upward. Mexico has potential to sell 2 million units per year. In a regular year, we sell about 1.3 million units but it is possible to sell more. In 2020, we sold just below 1 million but for 2021 we forecast that sales will surpass 1 million. In a couple of years, we will reach 1.3 million again."

Sales in Detail

This year’s trends reflect those of 2020. Nissan continues to be Mexico's top light vehicle seller with 21 percent of the marketbetween January and May 2021similar to 2020. GM follows Nissan with a 15 percent market share, almost one point below its 2020 results. Volkswagen remains in third place with a 10 percent share, Toyota is fourth with 8.37 percent and KIA is in fifth place with 7.81 percent, all of them close to their 2020 results.

Regarding vehicle segments, SUVs continue to gain market share. Back in 2015, SUVs accounted only for 20 percent of new light vehicle sales and were the third best-sold segment. In 2020, amid the pandemic, SUVs were the second best-sold segment with a 26.5 percent market share. The segment represents almost one third of accumulated sales during 2021 (29.33 percent) and remains the second best sold segment, close to the subcompact segment that holds a 29.8 percent share on accumulated figures in 2021, but represented 39 percent of 2020’s sales.

Several brands are also showing a recovery in their sales. Volvo and Alfa Romeo reported triple-digit growth, 102 percent and 100 percent respectively, compared to Jan-May 2020. Other brands also saw their sales soar, including Bentley with 50 percent, Audi with 51 percent, JAC with 55 percent, Suzuki with 55 percent, Peugeot with 64 percent, Subaru with 76 percent and Fiat with 96 percent.

Brands that reported a decline in sales were only four: Honda with negative 5 percent, Mercedes-Benz with negative 20 percent, Infiniti with negative 26 percent and Lincoln with negative 29 percent.

Production in Detail

Accumulated production recovered by 38.7 percent while May’s production soared by 956 percent year-on-year. The reason for this spike in production is that numerous plants were paralyzed in May 2020 in what was the second lowest month in recent history for vehicle production in Mexico. Only 22,862 units were produced that month. Lowest month remains April 2020 with only 3,722 units assembled. Mexican vehicle production reached its peak in 2017 with 3.93 million vehicles being produced in the country but had decreased to 3.8 million vehicles by 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic brought this figure down to 3 million vehicles assembled in Mexico during 2020.

Top automakers in the country remain unchanged but production shares did vary. GM remains Mexico’s top vehicle producer with 20.64 percent share during Jan-May 2021 (24 percent in the full year of 2020), Nissan is second with 18.66 percent (17.16 percent in 2020), FCA is third with 10.6 percent (14.54 percent in 2020), Volkswagen is fourth with 10.28 percent (9.83 percent in 2020) and KIA is fifth with 7.42 percent (6.80 percent in 2020).

Following vehicle sales trends SUVs continue to growth their production share. In 2015, SUVs represented only 18 percent of total production at the time, around 608,351 units. In 2018, they became the most produced segment with a 38.25 percent share and 1.498 million units produced. In 2020, despite the pandemic, they accounted for 42.55 percent of total production with 1.293 million units. On accumulated figures for 2021, SUVs represented 45.19 percent of total light vehicle production with 601,795 units produced so far.

OEMs that showed a triple-digit recovery in vehicle production were Toyota with 105 percent. The company also ramped up operations at its new plant in Guanajuato. BMW increased its production by 116 percent in the first five months of 2021 compared to Jan-May 2020. Other OEMs showing a significant recovery were: Nissan with 50 percent, Honda with 62 percent, Audi 78 percent and Mercedes-Benz with 88 percent. The only brand to reduce its production was JAC, with a 34 percent negative growth. Earlier this year, Elias Massri CEO of Giant Motors Latam, told MBN that the company is following closely market performance given that 100 percent of its production is aimed to the Mexican market.

 

For the full report on Vehicle Sales see:

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/alex.enr.quez/viz/Ventas_Vehiculos_Ligeros/Final

For the full report on Vehicle Production see:

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/alex.enr.quez/viz/MexicoLightVehicleProduction/Final

 

 

Photo by:   Ryan Searle

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