Mexican consumers remained in a buying mood in February, backed by strong employment numbers, comparatively low inflation and a high consumer confidence level just behind that of the U.S.
With customers packing their showrooms, Mexican dealers maintained their record selling pace in February, delivering 4,235 light vehicles on each of 23 selling days for a total of 97,409 units. That bested by 14.4% the month’s prior record set in 2005, when 88,866 LVs were sold at a daily rate of 3,702.
It also was 22.1% better than the 3,470 vehicles sold daily in February 2014 on volume of 79,807 units.
However, while February’s pace beat that of January by 6.3%, two fewer selling days kept the market from matching the 103,602 LVs sold the prior month.
Propelling February to its new benchmark were 64,993 new-car deliveries that surpassed by 9.7% an 11-year-old record of 59,231 units set in February 2004.
Although light-truck sales were only fifth-best, at 32,416 units, they outpaced the 28,806 sold in February a year ago by 27.4% and equaled 90.5% of the record volume of 37,362 units sold in February 2008.
Riding the crest of a 23.2% year-over-year gain, first-place Nissan widened its LV sales lead over second-place General Motors to 43.3% in February from 40.2% year-ago, despite GM’s 20.6% increase.
Third-place Volkswagen-Audi posted 9.7% gain on year-ago, while fifth-place FCA Mexico came with 50 units of tying Ford for the No. 4 spot.
LV sales in the first two months totaled 201,011 units, a 31.7% increase from prior-year’s 165,196, giving the industry a strong footing for a run at a new record in 2015, barring possible government spending cuts due to falling oil revenue, later in the year.
