Here’s how sales of Mexico-made vehicles ended up in the US market in September

8 October, 2018

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Although September was a difficult month for the automotive industry, in general, there were good results for some of the models manufactured in Mexico.

On one hand, there were SUVs such as the Audi Q5 and the GMC Terrain that reported double-digit growth driven by the high demand for light trucks. Particularly striking is the first of these cases, since it’s an SUV with such demand that one out of every three vehicles that the German company sold in September was a Q5 built in Puebla.

Another case to note is the new Volkswagen Jetta, a sedan that moves upstream in a market dominated by SUVs to be marketed in the same proportion. That is, one of every three vehicles that Volkswagen sold in September was an all-new Jetta.

The following report does not necessary reflects that each vehicle sold from certain model was built in Mexico, as marked in those particular cases. Automakers constantly mix domestic and overseas supplies from several countries to meet U.S. demand.

Audi

Despite the slowdown in sales that the most automakers went through in September, Audi of America managed to post a marginal increase of 0.2% on deliveries of 19,350 vehicles. Audi’s year-to-date sales through September are now of 167,420 units, which represents a 4% increase compared to the first nine months of 2017.

The made-in-Puebla Q5 SUV, Audi’s best-selling model in the United States in September and throughout the year, saw its sales hike 61% in September to 7,419 units, which means that more than one in three vehicles sold by the German automaker in September was a Q5. In the first nine months of 2018, sales of the Q5 totaled 49,694 units, an increase of 27% compared to the same nine-month period of 2017.

FCA

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US (FCA) was one of the few automakers that posted gains in the U.S. market in September, a 15% hike on sales 199,819 vehicles. It was the first time since January 2007 that the American-Italian automaker outsold Ford on a monthly basis. Its year-to-date sales are now of 1,679,983 units, up 6%. FCA sold 16,525 Jeep Compass last month, a skyrocketing increase of 46% compared to September 2017. Year-to-date sales are now of 132,674 vehicles, which represents a three-digit hike of 146% compared to sales from the first nine months of 2017.

Sales of the Fiat 500 were of just 529 units in September and 3,717 vehicles on a year-to-date basis, representing drops of 48% and 64% respectively. Sales of the Dodge Journey also increased at a two-digit pace in September, this time of 48% on sales of 9,336 units. Its year-to-date results are now up 2% to 77,233 vehicles. All three vehicles are built at FCA’s plant in Toluca.

Ford

Ford Motor Company saw its U.S. sales decline 11.2% last September to 197,404 vehicles. In the first nine months of 2018 Ford sales were of 1,887,625 units, down 2.4%. The company recently announced it has canceled advertising for all sedan models in its catalog, which is already reflecting in its sales results. Sales of the Ford Fiesta drop 11.7% in September to 3,293 vehicles. Its year-to-date sales totaled 36,518 vehicles, which still represents a 1% gain compared to same nine-month period of 2017.

Sales of the Ford Fusion sank 25.3% to 15,878 vehicles, while its year-to-date deliveries are now of 124,964 units, down 21.8%. The Lincoln MKZ saw a 7.7% drop in sales of 1,886 units in September and a decline of 28.8% to 14,921 vehicles in a year-to-date basis. Both the Fusion and the MKZ are built in Hermosillo, Sonora, while the Ford Fiesta for the U.S. market is sourced from Cuautitlan, state of Mexico.

General Motors

General Motors, which now reports sales figures on a quarterly basis, said it sold 694,638 vehicles in the period ending last September, representing a 11.1% decrease compared to same quarter of 2017. The company sold 2,168,808 units in the first nine months of 2018, a figure 1.2% lower than last year’s. Sales of the Chevy Trax, which is built in San Luis Potosi, fell 11.2% to 20,549 units in the quarter, but its year-to-date figure of 67,538 is 12.4% higher.

Quarterly sales of the Equinox SUV decreased 1.6% to 78,014 units, but deliveries are up 10.2% to 234,379 vehicles in a year-to-date basis. The Equinox is built in San Luis Potosi and Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, but also in Canada.

The Chevrolet Silverado saw its sales decrease 14.3% to 133,329 units, but its deliveries are up 1.4% to 424,403 vehicles year-to-date. Sales of the GMC Sierra were down 7.1% to 51,368 pickups and dropped 1.4% to 152,242 units on a year-to-date basis. Crew cab versions of both the Silverado and its sibling are made in Silao, Guanajuato.

Deliveries of the GMC Terrain, sourced for the U.S. market solely from San Luis Potosi, hiked 14% to 27,428 units. Year-to-date sales are now of 82,719 SUVs, which represent a 24.8% increase.

Honda

Honda Motor Co. reported U.S. September sales of 132,668 Honda and Acura vehicles, a 7% drop versus September 2017. Year-to-date sales are down 2% to 1,206,997 units. Since the flood of the Celaya plant back in late June, inventories of the Honda Fit have been very lean, which reflects on its sales that were 63% lower in September to just 1,507 units. Year-to-date deliveries of the compact hatchback are down 17.8% to 32,934 vehicles.

The HR-V crossover, which is in a similar situation, saw a 25.5% decrease in sales of 5,978 units. Its year-to-date sales totaled 69,979 vehicles, which represents an 5.5% drop. The HR-V is manufactured in Celaya, Guanajuato but also in El Salto, Jalisco.

Kia/Hyundai

Kia Motors America announced September sales of 51,503 vehicles, a 1.8% decrease over the same month last year. Sales in the first nine months of 2018 totaled 452,042 units, which represents a decrease of 1.28%. Its sister brand Hyundai reported a 0.6% increase in September sales of 57,359 units. Its year-to-date deliveries of 501,701 vehicles represent a 1.9% decline.

Sales of the Kia Rio were of 2,009 units in September for a 1.3% decline. Year-to-date sales are now of 17,291 units, which represents a hike of 44.6%. The Kia Forte saw it sales drop 39.1% in September to 6,470 units. Its year-to-date sales totaled 74,888 vehicles, representing a decline of 18.6%. Sales of the Hyundai Accent totaled 2,536 units in September, while the year-to-date figure was of 21,820 vehicles, representing decreases of 65.6% and 51.1% respectively. All three vehicles in this report are built in Pesqueria, Nuevo Leon.

Mazda

Sales of Mazda North American Operations in the U.S. market dropped 17.4% in September to 21,257 vehicles. Year-to-date sales through September are up 6.7% versus last year, with 235,122 vehicles sold.

Sales of the Mazda3 in sedan and hatchback versions totaled 4,635 units, representing a drop of 24.2%. Year-to-date deliveries reached 51,294 vehicles, which represents an 14.7% decline. Both versions of the Mazda3 for the U.S. market are sourced from Salamanca, Guanajuato.

Nissan/Infiniti

Nissan Group announced U.S. sales for September of 122,819 units, a 12.2% decline compared to the previous year. Sales in the first nine months of 2018 totaled 1,124,682 vehicles, down 6%. Sales of the Nissan Versa, including both sedan and hatchback versions, sank 67.4% to 3,782 units in September. Year-to-date sales decreased 29.9% to 58,083 vehicles.

The Nissan Sentra saw its sales drop 12.2% to 16,795 units in September, while its year-to-date deliveries are now 0.3% lower than last year to 165,147 vehicles. September marked the fourth month of sales for the Nissan Kicks in the U.S., 3,498 units were sold, totaling 10,312 vehicles over those four months.

With its sixth full month of sales at Infiniti dealerships, the all-new 2019 QX50 totaled 2,767 deliveries in September for an estimate of 15,891 vehicles sold in the year so far. All Nissan models cited in this report are built at different plants in Aguascalientes, central Mexico.

Toyota

Toyota reported U.S. sales of 203,098 vehicles in September, a 10.4% decrease compared to September 2017. Its year-to-date sales are now down 0.4% to 1,824,235 units. Sales of the Yaris iA, which is built by Mazda at its Guanajuato plant, decreased 53.6% to 1,450 vehicles. Year-to-date sales are down 24.6% to 21,563 units.

Sales of the Toyota Tacoma midsize pickup, built in Tijuana and San Antonio, Texas, hiked 23.3% to 22,265 units in September, and 24.8% in a year-to-date basis to 183,909 vehicles.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen reported sales of 30,555 units in September, a decrease of 4.8% over same month of 2017. With 266,228 units delivered in the first nine months of 2018, the German automaker is reporting an 5.5% increase in year-over-year sales. Sales of the Golf family declined 41.4% to 3,333 units, and 38.1% in a year-to-date basis to 34,353 vehicles. All variants of the Golf family are built in Puebla, except for the e-Golf and the R-Line, which are made in Germany.

Sales of the Jetta totaled 10,630 units, while year-to-date deliveries were of 61,118 vehicles, down 11.7% and 32.8% respectively. Despite de decline, one in three cars sold by Volkswagen in September was an all-new Jetta sedan. Sales of the Beetle dropped 6.2% to 999 units in September. Year-to-date sales totaled 12,150 vehicles, which represented a decline of 2.6%.

Sales of the 2018 Tiguan totaled 7,213 units, a 134.6% hike compared to September 2017, a month after the all-new model arrived to the U.S. market. Year-to-date sales are now of 67,232 SUVs. All Jetta, Beetle and 2018 Tiguan models for the U.S. are sourced from Puebla, Mexico.

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