Mexico’s car industry continues its strong performance, with 118,038 new light vehicles sold in September — up 35.6% from September 2022.

According to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), it was the strongest September performance since the historical record set in 2016, when 131,888 new cars were sold.

It was also the second-best month of 2023 so far after March, when 118,081 new cars were sold. However, the figure fell slightly under the 108,538 sales predicted by the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA).

September’s sales brought total new car sales up to 975,841 between January and September 2023. This marked a 24.9% increase from the same period of 2022 and a 2.1% increase from the same period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

September’s sales were also up 17.2% from September 2019, confirming that Mexico’s automotive sector has recovered well from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain disruptions.

Another factor boosting car sales in Mexico is the arrival of new players on the domestic market, including Chinese brands, which are on track to make up around 20% of total sales by year’s end. The Chinese brand Chirey saw a whopping 205% annual jump in its Mexican sales in September, reaching 3,687 units. Experts believe these newcomers are boosting dynamism in the Mexican car market, compelling traditionally popular brands to push harder to compete.

One factor leading to sales missing AMDA’s target may have been the United Auto Workers strike in the United States, which has paralyzed production at several Ford, General Motors and Stellantis factories and 38 auto parts centers. However, AMDA has said they believe the impact is minimal, as the affected plants represent only 2.9% of Mexican imports of these brands.

Despite the strikes, all three of these brands saw large annual increases of their Mexican sales in September. Ford registered 4,445 new car sales (a 38% annual increase), GM registered 16,132 (up 13.7%) and Stellantis registered 8,483 (up 38.4%).

Other brands performing strongly on the Mexican market include Nissan, which saw 86.4% annual growth in September to reach 20,146 sales, and Toyota, which saw 77.3% annual growth to reach 8,746 sales.

Weaker performers included Renault, Suzuki and Mitsubishi, which saw annual sales declines of 20.4%, 15.2% and 36.6%, respectively.

If current trends continue, the Mexican automotive sector is likely to exceed 1.3 million new car sales this year, up from just under 1.1 million in 2022.

With reports from El Financiero