Mexico LV Sales Set October Benchmark

A stable unemployment rate and higher consumer confidence prompted Mexicans to buy a record number of new light vehicles in October, although car buyers took a bit of a respite from the hectic September pace.

Dealers sold 4,278 new LVs each of 28 selling days in October, down 3.8% from the prior month’s 4,447-a-day rate, but three additional selling days boosted volume to 119,751 units, or 7.7% more than September’s 111,165 deliveries.

That was good enough to establish a new October benchmark that bested by 14.6% the 3,732 units sold daily in like-2014, when deliveries totaled 100,769 units.

Although both cars and light trucks reached record heights, October results would have been even more impressive had car sales not fallen 6.2% to 2,704 daily from 2,883-a-day in lofty September, although the longer selling period lifted October volume to a record 75,697 from 72,077 cars the month before..

Still, the October pace ran 13.4% ahead of the 2,383 cars sold daily in October 2014 on a then-record 64,340 units.

Unlike cars, light-truck sales continued to gather speed in October with sales of 1,573 daily edging ahead of September’s 1,564 units to drive volume to a record for the month of 44,054 units. That eclipsed the 43,220 light-trucks sold in October 2007, despite falling 5.4% short of that month’s 27-day pace.

With two months remaining, the industry’s October ance pushed LV sales for the year to 1,063,438 units, just 26,277 vehicles shy of the record 1,089,665, cars and light trucks sold in 2014. Thus the industry is assured of a banner performance in 2015.

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