Heavy truck production in Mexico decreased 16.6 percent in March, year-over-year, to 18,513 units. The decrease was mainly influenced by the calendar effect of Holy Week, which impacted the production of the three assembly companies that represent 95.2 percent of total production, according to SteelOrbis' analysis of data from the national statistics office Inegi.
The biggest drop occurred in the production leader Freightliner (owned by the German Daimler Group) with 18.3 percent, a reduction that meant a cut of 2,332 fewer units, totaling the month at 10,383 heavy trucks. That volume represented 56.1 percent of total production.
International Truck, the second largest producer of heavy vehicles in Mexico, manufactured 5,679 units, 14.1 percent or 934 units less compared to March of last year. That volume represented 30.7 percent of the total.
Kenworth, the Mexican subsidiary of Paccar, Inc. (owner of the Peterbilt and DAF truck brands) manufactured 1,560 units, 6.9 percent or 115 units less compared to March of last year.
The remaining 4.8 percent of production was contributed by seven companies: Mercedes-Benz Buses, Isuzu, Foton, Volkswagen Trucks and Buses, Volvo Buses, Hino and Dina. Shacman (Shaanxi Automobile Group) and MAN Truck, according to Inegi, did not manufacture in March.
In foreign trade, the volume of March exports decreased 14.3 percent, year-over-year, to 15,023 units. Of that total, shipments to the United States decreased 14.5 percent, totaling 14,320 units, a volume that represented 95.3 percent of the total.
534 units were exported to Canada, 27.8 percent more than March of last year. That country represented 3.6 percent of the total.
Of total exports, three companies concentrated 100 percent: Freightliner contributed 62.7 percent, International Truck contributed 32.8 percent and Kenworth 4.4 percent.
Retail sales in the Mexican market broke the positive trend of the last 31 consecutive months, with an annual decrease of 4.5 percent, totaling 4,427 units.
Inegi's production information comes from the 10 companies affiliated with the National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Producers (ANPACT) and from the unaffiliated company, Sparta Motors, which is owned by the Chinese company Shaanxi Automobile.