Sales Drop During COVID-19 Third Wave

Light-vehicle sales dropped in July during the consolidation of the COVID-19 third wave in Mexico. This drop follows June’s recovery, which was the second most successful month of 2021, with 87,088 units sold.

The path to recovery in the automotive industry has not been easy. In terms of production and exports, companies have recovered some ground, although without reaching pre-pandemic levels. “The market is halfway toward recovery and it still has a great deal of potential,” said to MBN José Román, CEO and President of Nissan Mexicana and Nibu.

According to INEGI, 82,157 units were sold in the Mexican market during July 2021, a 5.6 percent decrease compared to June. These results are better than the 72,921 units sold in June 2020, but still far from pre-pandemic levels considering that in July 2019 total light-vehicle sales amounted to 106,104.

COVID-19 third wave is not the only reason to explain the tough month of July for the automakers in terms of sales. Inflationary pressures and consumers’ moderation also played a big role in reducing sales, especially in durable goods such as vehicles, according to El Economista.

The Consumers’ Confidence Index, used to evaluate Mexicans’ probabilities to buy a vehicle in the next two years, was also very low at 12.1 points, considerably far from the minimum threshold of 50 points. These data reflect that among Mexican’s purchasing priorities buying a car is the less preferred.

In 2021, consumer prices increased in every industry, but light vehicles saw a significative jump during the first half of July, when vehicles’ consumer price increased by 0.69 percent, according to El Economista.

Nissan Holds First Place

The automaker Top 5 rank has not suffered major change since 2018, when Kia broke into the list. Following July’s reports, Nissan remained on top with 20.7 percent of the market share in 2021. General Motors remains in second place with 14 percent share and Volkswagen held to its third place with 13.2 percent of the market share. Toyota is in fourth place with 8.6 percent of the market share and Kia in fifth with 7.9 percent share. Mazda, Honda, Hyundai and Ford remain under 5 percent share each, while Stellantis has 6.6 market share in 2021.

Regarding Nissan’s success, Román analyzed for MBN: “More than support, it is about strategy. We provided our dealerships with certainty, clarity and a clear direction. We also created crisis committees with distributors, employees and suppliers… This moment taught us that we owe ourselves to the Mexican market and we want to be here for 60 more years and beyond.”