Automotive sales in Mexico improved 8.1% year-on-year in September to 79,960 units. Despite this increase, sales in the domestic market are still below the levels recorded prior to the recession.
In the first three quarters of this year, sales of passenger cars and light trucks in the country rose 11% compared with the January-September 2011 period to 701,901 units, MarketWatch reports, citing the Mexican Automobile Industry Association, AMIA.
Exports of new vehicles from Mexico, meanwhile, dipped 0.1% to 193,350. AMIA Director Eduardo Solis primarily attributes this drop in exports to a 3.1% decline in shipments to the US to 116,151 units.
Reuters, citing AMIA figures, said exports to Canada declined as well, falling 10% to 11,943 units, while exports to Europe were down 12.7%, at 18,621 units. Despite this, Solis expects exports for the full year 2012 to reach a record 2.35 million cars and light trucks, an increase of 10% compared with 2011 levels.
Production of vehicles in Mexico increased by 12.5% last month to 253,444 units. Consequently, automotive output in the first nine months of this year rose by 13% compared with the corresponding nine-month period in 2011 to 2.16 million vehicles.
In early-September, Audi confirmed that its new plant in Mexico will be located at San José Chiapa, in the State of Puebla. Construction work on this plant is scheduled to commence mid-2013, with production expected to start in 2016.
Late last month, Nissan stated that it expects to increase production in Mexico by 20-25% in 2012, compared with the 607,087 vehicles it produced in the country in 2011. The Japanese OEM is currently the largest vehicle manufacturer in the country, with two plants in Mexico, located in Mexico City and another in Aguascalientes. It is currently building a second facility in Aguascalientes.
