In August, car sales in the Mexican car industry rose 13.1 percent compared to last year's figures amounting to 75,680 units, according to the Mexican Association of the Automobile Industry (AMIA) and the Mexican Association of Car Distributors (AMDA). Furthermore, in the January-August period this year, Mexican auto sales increased 11.5 percent from a year ago.
Meanwhile, Mexican output of cars and light trucks in the January-August period rose 14.8 percent to 1.68 million vehicles, hitting a record for the first half of any year in history, according AMIA. Auto exports increased 15 percent also in the first eight months of 2011 to a record 1.39 million units. "Production in Mexico is absolutely being driven by exports, and exports continue to grow," AMIA's President Eduardo Solis said in an April news conference.
On the other hand, according market analyists, automotive manufacturing in Mexico, including auto parts, remains a bright spot for the Mexican economy with exports close to $65 billion in 2010, exceeding revenues from crude oil and tourism.
In 2008 Mexico became the largest supplier of auto parts to the U.S. Mexico exports 80 percent of its vehicles to the U.S.: 11 out of every 100 autos sold in the U.S. are made in Mexico. Other destinations are Latin America: 11 percent, and the European Union: 9 percent. In 2010 Mexico ranked as the 6th largest automotive exporter in the world.
In Mexico which the overall economy is expected to grow between 4 and 5 percent in 2011, the automotive production is expected to reach 2.4 million units by 2014.