April was another banner month for new car sales in Mexico, according to the national statistics agency (INEGI).

INEGI reported that new car sales in April totaled 112,048 units, a 14.8% increase over the same month a year ago. The performance in April was also the third-best ever for that month, only behind 2016 (118,754) and 2017 (114,938).

This is more good news for the automotive industry which continues to bounce back from the pandemic lows, with last month’s sales total surpassing by 13.9% the 2019 April performance of 98,366 new cars sold.

The overall total of new car sales in 2024 reached 461,800, an improvement of nearly 50,000 over the 412,736 sold during the first four months of 2023. This represents a year-over-year increase of 11.9%.

Leading the way among carmakers in April was Nissan, the market leader in Mexico, with 18,079 light vehicles sold, a 20.3% improvement year-on-year. General Motors followed with 17,325 cars sold (up 18.4%) with Volkswagen and Toyota coming in third and fourth, respectively.

The newspaper El Economista reported that Volkswagen’s car sales (10,522 light VW vehicles sold) rose by 17.1% and Toyota, with 9,785 cars sold, recorded an impressive increase of 35.3%.

Also enjoying a successful month were Kia (more than 8,500 new cars sold, an 11.1% increase) and Mazda (nearly 7,200 new cars sold, a massive 89.6% improvement).

In contrast, a pair of Chinese carmakers saw sales fall in April according to El Economista, which reported that Chirey saw sales drop 31.4% and MG Motors suffered a decline of 21.8% as compared to April 2023. In addition, Fiat posted negative numbers last month, registering an 18.3% drop in sales.

The slump for Chinese carmakers is a bit of a surprise after sales of Chinese cars in Mexico climbed by 63% in 2023, with Chirey enjoying a 350% increase last year after opening its first dealerships in Mexico in 2022.

El Economista pointed out one statistic that might have boosted last month’s performance in car sales. Although Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate rose to 4.63% in April, new cars remained affordable for consumers as prices rose just 1.96% year-over-year.

The Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors has projected that total new car sales in Mexico this year will exceed 1.45 million units. If this target is met, it will represent an increase of nearly 100,000 vehicles over the 1,361,433 light vehicles sold in 2023.

With reports from El Economista