The automotive industry recorded a growth of 8.3% in sales of light cars in June 2024, compared to 113,553 units in June of the previous year, which marks an increase of 9,376 units.
The commercialization of light vehicles in Mexico exceeded the expectations of automotive distributors, totaling 122,929 units last June, the highest volume for an identical month since 2017, reported the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (Inegi).
The automotive industry recorded a growth of 8.3% in sales of light cars in June 2024, compared to 113,553 units in June of the previous year, which marks an increase of 9,376 units.
Marketing also had 26 months of expansions, bringing it closer and closer to the most recent long streak of sales growth, which was 35 months (May 2014 to March 2017).
The president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), Guillermo Rosales highlighted that marketing was 5.7% higher than his sales expectation for June, which was 115,975 units, which marks an important performance to continue for the growth path of reaching 1.5 million vehicles by the end of the year.
Regarding the performance against the immediate previous month, an increase in new light vehicles sold of 2,944 units stands out, that is, an advance of 2.5% compared to the data for May 2024.
Japanese brands led new car sales in June, with Nissan that remains in the lead and exceeded its sales goal with 21,153 units - which it has set at 20,000 cars per month -; In addition, Honda surprised with double-digit growth of 47.6% and Mazda with another 63.7% during June compared to June 2023.
Toyota also grew 13.4% with the launch of new hybrid variants such as its Tacoma pickup. Suzuki, which recently launched the new generation hybrid variant of its Swift subcompact, grew 35%.
General Motors continues to drive its growth with vehicle launches, including the electric version of its Equinox EV SUV and confirms the position of its subcompact Aveo as one of the best sellers in Mexico.
CHAIRODAR WITH CHINESE BRANDS
The Chinese brands suffered variations in their behavior, because while JAC continues to increase its presence in Mexico, especially in its fleet sales, Chirey suffered a 33% decline in sales compared to June 2023, although the brand explained a few months ago that This adjustment was due to the introduction of new models, with versions from last year, compared to which the consumer preferred the recent model.
MG Motor, which had its foot on the accelerator, had a brake for the second consecutive month. Which coincides with the fact that the brand announced the arrival of new members to its vehicle catalog such as the subcompact MG3 and the sports car MG4.
So the vice president of the British-Chinese brand, Daniel Nava, bet that the logo will increase its market share in Mexico by more than one percentage point (from January to June it accounted for 3.5% of national sales).
The AMDA mentioned that the sales level in June is higher than sales in the same month in pre-pandemic 2019, placing it 15.1% above the 106,782 units sold then.
According to the information coming from 23 companies affiliated with the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), Autos Orientales Picacho, Giant Motors Latinoamérica and Great Wall Motor México, from January to June 2024, 708,650 light vehicles were sold, number 11, 9% higher than the 633,087 units in the same period of the previous year, which marks an increase of 75,563 units.
INFLATION IS SOFTENED
Rosales highlighted that the national consumer price index registered an annual increase of 4.78% and that corresponding to the purchase of automobiles had an annual increase of 1.63% with data as of the first half of June 2024.
The above indicates that the sector has reached a phase of price stabilization amid the growing competition triggered by Asian brands, after the strong cost increases that occurred in 2022 and 2023.
