Mexico LV Sales Set January Record

Mexico new light-vehicle sales may have cooled somewhat from December’s blockbuster pace, but still opened 2016 at a record clip.

The country’s dealers delivered 4,984 LVs on each of 24 selling days in January, a 25.1% gain on the 3,985 units sold daily a year earlier. That boosted volume for the month to a record 119,624 LVs that surpassed the year-old January benchmark of 103,603.

Both cars and light trucks reached new January highs, unlike a year earlier when neither segment set a record but their combined strength powered the market to benchmark status.

Consumers drove home 75,645 new cars in January at a rate of 3,152 daily, 21.3% ahead of the 2,762-a-day pace in 2002, when sales totaled a then-record 60,040. Compared with like-2015, January car sales were up 19.0% from 2,628 daily on deliveries totaling 68,842.

The light-truck gain vs. year-ago was an even more dramatic 37.1% on an average of 1,832 per day vs. 1,337 units the prior year, as total sales rose to 43,979 trucks from 34,750.

Compared with the old record of 40,874 units sold in January 2008, at 1,634 daily, last month’s light-truck tally was up 12.1%.

Although still well below those of markets to the North, the light-truck share of January LV sales in Mexico rose to 36.8%, up from 33.5% a year earlier.  

FCA Mexico, Ford and General Motors together captured 34.1% of the market in January, up from 31.2% a year earlier, while Asian makes rose to 48.0% from 46.6%. Other European makes accounted for just 17.9% of the market last month, down from 22.2% in like-2015, due in large part to Volkswagen brand’s 3.6-point share loss.  

[email protected]