Vehicle production in Mexico increased 2.7 percent in July, year-over-year, to 302,309 units. That volume was 0.15 percent or 464 units less than the historical record for the month of July, which was in 2017 with 302,773 units, according to SteelOrbis' analysis of data from the national statistics agency Inegi.
July was the seventh consecutive month with production above 300 thousand units per month. In the last 44 months (since December 2020), that production volume has only been exceeded 18 times and seven of them are in 2024.
Of the 13 vehicle manufacturers in Mexico, six companies increased their production 33.8 percent to 151,775 units, a volume that represented 50.2 percent of the total. In contrast, seven producers decreased their production 16.8 percent to 150,534 units.
Of the total production, 63.8 percent was concentrated in five vehicle manufacturers: Kia contributed 7.0 percent, Stellantis (Fiat, Chrysler and PSA) contributed 9.0 percent, Volkswagen contributed 10.0 percent, Nissan 14.1 percent and the leader of the General Motors market with 23.7 percent.
The winners in May were General Motors, which increased its market share in production by 820 basis points to reach 23.7 percent, Kia gained 130 basis points to reach 7.0 percent, and Honda gained 120 basis points to reach 6.4 percent and Audi gained 100 basis points to 5.7 percent.
In contrast, those that lost the most were Ford Motor with 520 basis points, going from 11.6 to 6.4 percent, Nissan lost 220 basis points, remaining at 14.1 percent, Stellantis lost 150 basis points, totaling 9.0 percent, and BMW lost 140 basis points when reaching 2.7 percent. Others that lost market share in production were Volkswagen, Mazda, Mercedes Benz and Toyota.
Exports decreased 1.6 percent, year-over-year, in July to 271,469 units. With this decline, the upward trend of the last 19 months (since December 2022) was broken.
The general director of the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), Odracir Barquera, told SteelOrbis that this drop in exports is not related to signs of economic slowdown in the United States.
In the first seven months of the year, the United States imported 1.57 million vehicles manufactured in Mexico, a figure that represented 79.1 percent of the 1.99 million units exported.