Light vehicle production and exports in July show mixed performance

In July, the automotive industry in Mexico was at two speeds in production and export, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

According to the Administrative Registry of the Light Vehicle Automotive Industry (Raiavl), kept by Inegi, the production of light vehicles in Mexico reached a volume of 302,309 units, which represented an annual growth of 2.70 percent, the lowest growth rate since August 2023. Likewise, the assembly of light vehicles linked four months with annual advances in July.

Light trucks accounted for 75.9 percent of total production, while the remainder was accounted for by automobile manufacturing.

For its part, the national industry exported 271,469 light vehicles in July, which represented a decrease of 1.56 percent compared to July 2023, ending a streak of 19 annual upward readings.

Inegi recalled, as it announced last Friday, that 124,761 light vehicles were sold during July, 12.56 percent more than the same month last year, since it was its best July since 2016.

Inegi figures reveal that in the first seven months of the year, the production of light vehicles amounted to 2 million 298 thousand 445 units, which represented an increase of 4.90 pon compared to the same period in 2023, practically at the same level as in 2019, before the pandemic.

The Inegi report, which comes from 23 companies affiliated with the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), Autos Orientales Picacho, Giant Motors Latin America and Great Wall Motor Mexico, stated that from January to July, 1,986,263 units were exported, which represented an annual growth of 8.44 percent.

As the Mexican economy grows at a rate of 1.9 percent annually and consumption begins to moderate, domestic vehicle sales have slowed down, from sales of 119,985 units in May of this year to 122,929 and 124,761 vehicles in June and July, respectively. Meanwhile, production fell by 12.77 percent compared to June and exports by 6.62 percent.