Mexico LV Sales Slip in September

Following two record-setting months in which Mexico new light-vehicle sales averaged nearly 100,000 units each, analysts were not surprised that September deliveries cooled a bit, running only third-best for the month.

Although car deliveries reached a September record of 57,122 units, besting the 56,947 sold in 2005, a decline in light-truck sales held total LV volume to 88,869 vehicles, 2,351 short of the benchmark 91,320 units sold in September 2006.

Light-truck deliveries of 31,847 ranked only fifth-best for September, trailing the record 38,757 units sold in 2006 by 19%.

In addition to consumer “buying fatigue,” the September LV market suffered from a modest slowdown in the country’s economic recovery. The dip was due in large part to a falloff in the banking sector in response to an International Monetary Fund forecast of slower worldwide economic activity through the end of 2014.

However, the Mexican government said employment remained strong and growth in the manufacturing sector was on track, signaling a strong LV market through the end of the year. While down slightly from earlier forecasts, the Bank of Mexico still called for the economy to grow at a rate of 2.0%-2.8% this year, up from 1.1% in 2013.

September’s LV slowdown was felt acutely by Fiat Chrysler, down 20% on a daily-rate basis, to 4,446 units from 6,541 a year ago, and Ford, off 27.7% to 4,937 from 6,542.

Among the Detroit Three, only General Motors registered a year-over-year gain in September, up 3.6% to 15,113 vehicles from 13,976. That limited the North American producers to combined decline of 9.2% against the prior year.

Individually, Asian brands all reported September gains, posting a combined increase of 25.0% from like-2013.

Europeans netted a 6.8% September sales increase despite declines by five of 13 brands ranging from BMW’s 1.7% to Volvo’s 38.0%.

Newcomer Dacia reported sales of 304 ’15-model Logan cars, previously sold in Mexico as the Nissan Aprio, a 0.3% share of September sales, up from just 51 units the prior month. Sales for the year total 404.

Industry LV sales for the 9-month period totaled 788,482, up 6.0%  from prior-year’s 754,023.

The Nissan brand was firmly in the top spot with sales of 201,568 cars and light trucks, 6.6% ahead of year-ago’s 189,072 units.

A 6.3% sales increase put Chevrolet in second place among all LV brands for the year, while Volkswagen ranked third, with a 3.9% gain.

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