Third-Best January for Mexico LV Sales

One more selling day in 2018 in Mexico wasn’t enough to match last year’s January sales, falling 14.9% to 109,017 compared to best-ever 2017’s 123,034. Despite the plummet, last month still was a third-best January, trailing 2016’s 119,624.

Car sales plunged 21.5% to 65,624 compared to year-ago’s 80,269. Nissan reclaimed the No.1 spot in January despite a 15.9% drop in sales to 16,210. Volkswagen slid into second place but also dropped 30.4% to 12,419 units. General Motors, the No.1 spot holder last month, plummeted 52.3% in sales and dropped to only a 10.0% market share. Sales of the Chevrolet Aveo, Sonic and Spark suffered and stole the spotlight from the all-new Beat. The Nissan Versa, the top-selling car in January, started the year strong at 7,621 units, an 11.6% increase compared to like-2017’s 6,557.

Dealers in Mexico needed an extra selling day in January after light-truck sales fell just 2.6% short to 43,393. Nissan held onto first place with a 23.9% market share despite a 5.2% drop to 10,385 units. Honda’s CR-V outsold last January by 107.7%, placing Honda in second place with total sales soaring 25.6%. GM, no longer in the top five, fell 58.6% and lost nearly six percentage points in market share.

Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, and Honda made up 62.7% of Mexico light-vehicle sales in January, with Toyota being the only automaker in that group to post a gain (+10.6%). Dealers in Mexico set several records in the past two years that will be difficult to beat throughout 2018.

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