USMCA and June Sales Results

The second half of 2020 has just started. North America enters a new trade era as the long-waited USMCA came into force on July 1. Mexico and Brazil’s agreement on heavy vehicles trade will be delayed until 2023 due to the pandemic. June sales results show an annual 31.9 percent decrease while online sales in April and May doubled compared to 2019. Amazon has jumped into the autonomous vehicles race by purchasing startup Zoox. Ready to hit road? Here's the Week in Automotive! 

USMCA Is Here

After a long period of deliberation, a finalized USMCA will bring certainty to the industry. As stricter rules of origin are enforced, new investments and expansions are likely to take place in the short and medium terms, changing the automotive landscape of the region just as NAFTA did. Take a sneak peek into Mexico Automotive Review 2019/20 and read our USMCA analysis here.

Mexico and Brazil Delay Heavy Vehicle Trade

Due to the pandemic, the Mexican Ministry of Economy informed last week that the ACE 55 agreement will have a three-year transition. "Starting in July 2023, free trade between Mexico and Brazil will reign," said the Ministry of Economy on a statement. You can read the details here

June Sales Results

After April reported historic sales lows with just 34, 903 units sold, results increased to 42,028 units sold in May. With 62,837 units sold in June, the market experienced a 49.5 percent increase compared to May. You can review all the data here. The pandemic also boosted online sales, as these represented 15 percent of total sales occurred between April and May. Online sales results doubled against the same period in 2019. 

Featured Interviews
Siemens’ CEO Alejandro Preinfalk explains the adoption curve of Industry 4.0 in the country. Mexican automaker Zacua details the challenges for EV models and CEO of Grupo Uribe explains his strategies for the company’s automotive dealership division. 

Amazon Bets on Autonomous Vehicles
This week, Amazon announced the acquisition of Zoox, a Californian startup already working on developing autonomous ride-hailing vehicles, for US$1.2 billion. Although Amazon had previously invested in other autonomous driving startups such as Rivian and Aurora, Zoox is its first acquisition in the sector. You can read more about it here.

International Roads
In North America, Tesla became yesterday the highest-valued automaker in the world, overtaking Toyota Motors Corp. Shares for the EV company traded at a record US$1,133. In Japan, the pandemic effects continue to be felt as auto sales dropped 23 percent annually during June, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.