The Mexican automotive industry already shows signs of recovery in the first nine months of the yearafter the collapse of its economic activity in 2020, although the “extraordinary growth” in September is still due to a low comparison base for 2021 and does not exceed the figures prior to the pandemic.
In the January-September period, the production and sale of cars in Mexico and abroad showed general expansions compared to the same period of the previous year; although the figures are far from those registered in 2019, prior to the health contingency.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), 2,511,482 units were manufactured in the first nine months of the yearthat is, a positive variation of 10%, compared to 2,283,242 for the same time period in 2021.
Meanwhile, 778,527 vehicles were sold in the country in the first nine months of the year, an annual growth of 2.73%, compared to the 757,846 that were sold in the same period of 2021.
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According to the Administrative Registry of the automotive industry of light vehicles, the export of cars between January and September amounted to 2,123,261 units, an increase of 5.39% compared to the 2,014,639 that were exported in the first nine months of 2021.
Still far from pre-pandemic levels
In a press conference, Guillermo Rosales, executive president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), pointed out that these figures already show that “a recovery is being affirmed”, with which the supply of the Mexican vehicle industry improved their expectation even in the delivery times of new cars, which is currently around two months.
However, the uncertainties in the global environment are still present and, therefore, it is necessary to continue having reservations”, he added.
Rosales indicated that the car sales figures, accumulated from January to September, show a negative difference of 18.5% compared to 2019, prior to the global pandemic.
Fausto Cuevas, general director of the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), added that the production of accumulated cars, between January and September 2022, presents a decrease of 15.4% in the manufacturing volume of the same period of time in 2019.
Regarding the levels of export of vehicles from Mexico, Cuevas reported that 5.4% was found far from the volume of foreign trade in 2019 for the same reference period; although North America and especially the United States remain the main sales destinations.
He also explained that the installed capacity with which the Mexican automotive industry operates is also similar to pre-pandemic levels, with the use of 78.7% of its infrastructureclose to the 83% that it presented in 2019.
Automotive industry on the rise: Records second consecutive monthly advance
In September alone, Inegi and the Mexican automotive industry reported the sale of 85,842 light vehicles, their second consecutive monthly advance.
This figure is 11.58% higher than that of the same month of 2021, when 76,930 cars were sold.
It is also 34.9% lower than the best September on record in the Mexican market.Rosales commented.
In the ninth month, 259,792 units were exported, a positive annual variation of 33.03%, compared to the sale abroad of 195,294 vehicles in the same month of the previous year.
This growth in 2022 is the third in a row, and according to Cuevas, it still presents a negative difference of 9.4% compared to the same month before the pandemic in 2019.
Likewise, Mexican production registered 273,329 new cars, while in the same month of 2021 208,092 were manufactured, a difference of 31.35%.
This is the sixth positive monthly growth in the production of vehicles that is reported during 2022 by the Mexican automotive industry and Inegi, and is still 15.4% away from what was reported in the same 2019 report.
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