Mexico LV Sales Creep to May Record

A record 88,116 light vehicles found their way off dealer lots in May, up 0.8% from the prior peak of 87,347 sold in like-2013 – but only because there was an extra selling day this year.

Wary consumers bought just 3,266 LVs on each of 27 selling days last month, down 2.8% from the 3,359 delivered daily in May 3013, when there were 26 days.

Although May sales boasted a 10.5% rise over April’s seasonally weak selling pace of 2,953 units on volume of 76,778 vehicles, economists aren’t looking for a significant upturn pending increased government spending on infrastructure and other stimulus measures. Reportedly, these may have taken a backseat to government efforts to overhaul the petroleum industry.

Furthermore, despite early June action by the Bank of Mexico trimming its interest rate to an all-time low of 3.0%, the agency has lowered its 2014 growth outlook to 2.3%-3.3% from 3.0%-4.0%.

And had it not been for record car sales of 57,667 vs. prior-year’s 56,726 units, May LV deliveries would have run second-best to year-ago.

Far from a record, light-truck deliveries squeaked past year-ago by a mere 162 units to 30,611 vehicles, but trailed by 4.4% in daily sales.

Compared with the record 36,211 light trucks sold in May 2008, also with 27 selling days, last month’s performance was down 15.5%.

Among the Detroit Three, only General Motors, up 9.2%, enjoyed higher LV sales last month compared with May 2013.

Asian makes boasted a collective 3.5% gain over year-ago, while European brands posted a 6.9% shortfall.

Included in the May tally were the first 705 Hyundai LVs sold through the South Korean automaker’s newly established dealer network.  Previously, Hyundai cars, such as the popular i10, were sold by Chrysler dealers under the Dodge brand.

Despite the May uptick, LV sales for the year, at 415,669 units vs. 417,410, still trail like-2013 by 0.4%.

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