Mexican light-vehicle sales increase 20.6% y/y in December − AMIA preliminary report

Light-vehicle sales in Mexico increased 20.6% year on year (y/y) in December, according to a preliminary report from the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (Asociación Mexicana de La Industria Automotriz: AMIA), in conjunction with the Mexican Automobile Distributors' Association (Associacion Mexicana de Distribuidores de Automotores: AMDA). December's results brought total light-vehicle sales in 2015 to 1.351 million units, a 19.0% y/y improvement. Double-digit growth over much of 2015 had not been expected to be sustained in the last quarter, but it was. In December, 160,663 light vehicles were sold in Mexico, compared with 133,273 units in December 2014. Nissan continues to lead the market, with 38,582 units sold in the last month of the year, up 10.4% y/y, while General Motors held second place with a gain of 35.7% y/y to 33,157 units. Volkswagen saw a 16.0% y/y gain to 22,044 units, despite its global diesel emissions scandal.

FCA Mexico held fourth place with 11,882 units sold, up 10.7% y/y. Mazda saw a strong gain of 58.2% y/y, selling 8,213 units. Honda's demand increased 10.4% y/y in December, reaching 9,524 units.

Significance: The year-to-date growth in light-vehicle sales in Mexico was in double digits in December, returning a nearly 20% monthly gain as was seen during July−October. Light-vehicle sales in Mexico closed out 2014 at 1.13-million units, an increase of 6.8%, and reached a record year in 2015. We forecast Mexico's light-vehicle sales will reach 1.39-million units in 2016 and will increase to 1.51-million units in 2022. The sales growth is being helped by a slowdown in sales of used vehicles, after the government reduced imports of used cars to allocate vehicles that had been expected to be exported to countries of the Mercosur sub-regional trading bloc to local sales, as well as improved consumer confidence and credit availability. Currently, 60% of car sales in Mexico are financed. A detailed report will follow when the full light-vehicle sales, production, and export data for Mexico are available.