Car production in Mexico increases 2.8% in January 2023

Car production in Mexican plants grew 2.38% year-on-year in Januarydata that shows recovery of the country’s main industrial sector, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported on Tuesday.

Likewise, the export of light vehicles increased by 9.93% and sales in the domestic market rose by 20.14%, according to the report of the autonomous institute.

During January 2023, 94,414 units were sold in the domestic market and, in this same period, 280,315 units were produced in Mexico. Light trucks represented 76.9% of the total produced, while the rest corresponded to the manufacture of automobiles”, detailed the Inegi.

The units produced in January were 6,505 more than those of the first month of 2022while those sold in the national market were 15,829 more.

While, in January 2023, 238,135 light vehicles were exported21,505 more than the 216,630 units in the same month a year ago.

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The importance of the automotive industry lies in the fact that it represents almost 4% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) and 20.5% of manufacturing GDP, more than any other sector, according to the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA).

The information from the Inegi comes from 22 companies affiliated with AMIA, Giant Motors Latin America and Autos Orientales Picacho.

Still far from pre-pandemic figures

After two years of falls and shortage of inputs, the Mexican automotive sector rebounded in 2022 with an annual growth of 9.24% in production, 5.86% in exports and 7.03% in sales.

In 2020, vehicle production and exports fell by more than 20% amid the covid-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of this industry during the first months of the outbreak.

While in 2021, manufacturing fell 2% annually due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, and exports rose just 0.94%.

Despite the rebound in 2022, the figures are still far from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019when the automotive sector produced more than 3.75 million light vehicles, exported about 3.33 million and sold about 1.31 million.

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