Mexico LV Sales Juggernaut Keeps Rolling

A continued slowdown in exports and declining business investment has left Mexican economic growth this year almost entirely in the hands of consumers, and consume they did again in September.

That was especially true in the automotive sector, where Mexican dealers delivered 131,346 light vehicles during the month, a record that outpaced the prior September peak of 111,165 set in like-2015.

Although falling short of the 133,963 LVs sold in August, last month’s performance marked the third consecutive September sales record, all but guaranteeing deliveries for the year will reach a new record of at least 1,524,000 units, surpassing 2015’s record 1,350,099 vehicles12.5%.

Indeed, the only way 2016 sales could fail to best those of the prior year is if fourth-quarter deliveries fell 43.0% below those in like-2015, seen as unlikely barring an economic collapse.   

Already, LV sales in the first nine months of the year totaled 1,117,987, an 18.5% rise over the 943,687 units delivered in like-2016, with cars up 18.0% to a record 735,953 units as against 623,867 a year earlier. Light trucks were ahead by 19.5%, to 383,034 from 319,800.

Driving the sales juggernaut in September, buyers took home an average of 5,254 units each of 25 selling days, an 18.2% increase over prior-year’s 25-day rate of 4,447.

September’s selling pace also represented a 2.0% gain from the 5,152 units delivered over 26 days in August, although unit volume fell short due to the shorter selling period.

Both cars and light trucks set sales benchmarks in September, with cars alone reaching 44,151 units to best the prior September peak of 41,623 set in 2015 by 21.0%. Cars held an LV market share of 66.4% for the month as against 64.8%.

At the same time light-truck sales hit a September record of 44,151 units, 13.0% more than the year-old benchmark of 39,077 units.

abinder@wardsauto.com