Mexico September LV Sales Second-Best

Retail new light-vehicle sales in Mexico slid 14.9% to 4,472 on each of 26 selling days in September, down from prior-year’s 25-day rate of 5,354 daily.

Still, that was enough to make the month’s 116,272 units the second-best September tally behind 2016’s record 131,346 deliveries.

Mexico City’s Sept. 19 earthquake was blamed for much of the decline after it disrupted commerce in large parts of the country’s capital. Except for that, sales would have been stronger, although perhaps not matching the prior-year’s record, as economists noted a ninth consecutive uptick in consumer confidence while inflation edged down to one of the lowest levels this year.

Car sales totaling 71,892 were third-best for the month, 20.4% under year-ago’s record 86,892 and 4.1% below second-best 2015’s 72,088.

Light trucks fared better, with sales of 44,380 just 4.0% less than like-2016’s benchmark September tally of 44,454.

Most manufacturers posted sales declines compared with year-ago with market-leader Nissan/Infiniti down 16.4%, while second-place General Motors was off 27.4% and third-ranked Volkswagen/Audi suffered an 18.6% setback.

Collectively, GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler sold 32,053 LVs in the month, down 23.6% from prior-year’s 40,373.

Those makes showing sales increases most were mostly low-volume brands, although Kia boosted its performance by 22.2% to a record 7,503 units for the month, while Hyundai posted a 19.3% gain to 4,100 from 3,304.

LV sales in January-September were down 1.1% to 1,105,553 from the 1,117,987 sold in like-2016.

Still, Mexican dealers could end 2017 on the plus side, maybe even in record territory, if seasonal patterns hold through the fourth quarter, when sales normally strengthen as the year draws to a close.

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