Mexico’s automotive market declines for three consecutive months

New car sales fell by 5.9% in June, marking three consecutive months of decline, according to the latest data from Inegi. During the sixth month of the year, consumers and businesses purchased a total of 116,000 units, which is 7,332 fewer light vehicles than last year.

One factor that negatively impacted the result was that Chinese brands Chirey and Omoda stopped reporting their figures to the Administrative Registry of the Light Vehicle Automotive Industry (RAIAVL) in May, but there are other reasons that explain this downward trend.

Guillermo Rosales Zárate, executive president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), said that the June result was lower than the estimate by the organization he presides over, which stood at 119,033 units. “The estimate had a percentage difference of 2.6%,” said the executive.

Rosales attributed this result to the fact that “the economic and financial factors affecting vehicle demand have not seen any substantial positive changes.”

The union leader explained that “economic activity in Mexico continues to show weak performance, which has led to a continuous downward revision of the GDP growth forecast for 2025,” which explains the market slowdown compared to the results of the first quarter of the year.

The executive added that the June result “reinforces our view that there is still no sustained recovery in the domestic market.”

In terms of cumulative sales for the first six months of the year, the figure was 709,341 vehicles sold, a marginal decrease of 0.2% compared to the same period in 2024. It should be noted that despite being a negative result, it is the second-best figure for a first half since 2017.

Nissan maintained its dominance in the market by sales volume during the first half, with 128,823 units sold for a market share of 18.1% and an increase of 5.2% compared to the result for the same period a year ago.

General Motors follows with 13.3% of total sales, equivalent to 94,601 units, which is 5.2% less than the volume achieved in the first half of 2024.

Volkswagen, in third place, has an 11.3% share with 80,489 vehicles sold, a decline of 2.7% compared to last year.

Toyota consolidated its fourth place with sales of 60,260 units, an increase of 3.8%, allowing it to maintain a market share of 8.5%, not counting the 1,320 vehicles that its premium division Lexus delivered to its customers in the first half of the year.

Kia ranked fifth with sales of 52,942 vehicles, representing 7.5% of the market and an increase of 3.9%, while its compatriot Hyundai ranked ninth with 25,240 units, or a 3.6% share and a marginal increase of 1.6%.

Mazda achieved double-digit sales growth in the first half of the year, selling 49,909 vehicles. This volume is 12.4% higher than last year and represents a 7% market share, placing it in sixth position.

The Japanese automaker is followed at a distance by the multinational Stellantis with 41,259 units sold, representing a 9.6% drop from its result a year ago and a 5.8% market share.

In eighth place is Ford with 25,488 vehicles sold, which represents a result virtually unchanged from last year and gives it a 3.6% share, similar to that of Hyundai. However, the figures for the blue oval brand do not include those for its luxury brand Lincoln, which sold just over 1,000 units in the last six months.

MG Motor, one of the first Chinese brands to enter the country, ranked tenth with a 3.3% market share, delivering 23,240 vehicles. However, this figure represents a 5.2% drop compared to its sales a year ago.

It should be noted that MG's sales volume is most likely surpassed by that of its compatriot BYD, however, the latter does not share its data with the Inegi registry.

In the premium segment, BMW performed the best. The Bavarian firm sold 9,236 units, including those of the Mini brand, representing an increase of 5.5%.

Its compatriot Mercedes-Benz reported sales of 5,720 units, including commercial vehicles, reflecting a decline of 7.6%. However, the worst performance in this segment was for Audi, whose 4,243 vehicles sold represent a 22.6% drop compared to the 2024 result.