Mexico overtook the United Kingdom and Canada to become the fourth biggest automobile exporter by value in the world in 2018, statistics show.

The value of Mexican-made vehicle exports increased by 19% compared to 2017 to reach just over US $49.4 billion, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Just under 3.5 million vehicles were shipped abroad from Mexico, a 6% increase on 2017 numbers.

Mexico’s ranking of fourth among auto-exporting nations represents an improvement of six places compared to 2008, when it ranked 10th.

Foreign sales of vehicles made in the U.K. remained steady in 2018 at just over $42 billion while Canadian auto exports declined by 12% to just over $41 billion.

Germany was the biggest auto exporter, shipping vehicles worth $154.7 billion abroad, followed by Japan and the United States, which achieved foreign sales of $99.1 billion and $54.4 billion respectively.

According to Moisés Zavaleta, director of strategy at the consultancy firm Ansley, “Mexico has the potential to keep increasing its production of vehicles” as a result of the “integration of the North American market.”

Just over 70% of all Mexican auto exports went to the United States last year while 8% went to Germany and just under 6% were shipped to Canada, according to data from the Secretariat of the Economy (SE).

Brazil, Italy and China were among the other destination countries for Mexican-made vehicles.

This year, the Mexican auto sector is expected to benefit from the elimination of tariffs on cars sent to Brazil and Pacific Rim countries which entered into the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.

Among the auto makers that have plants in Mexico are Audi, Baic, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Source: El Economista (sp)