Mexico’s Automotive Production Declines 8.4% in November

Supply chain disruptions and weak sales in the US market for some manufacturers led to a sharp 8.4% decline in the volume of light vehicles assembled in the country last November.

According to the latest report from Inegi on the subject, assembly plants in Mexico produced 322,000 cars and trucks in the eleventh month of the year, while exports exceeded 279,000 units.

The number of shipments abroad also fell compared to the same result a year ago, although in this area the contraction was only -3.5%.

In terms of the cumulative volume for the first eleven months of this year, production stands at 3,709,533 light vehicles, a negative difference of 55,000 units, or -1.46%, compared to the same period in 2024.

In exports, the cumulative total is 3,160,741 vehicles, a drop of -1.63%, equivalent to 52,391 units.

The decline in both production and exports in November was mainly due to drops in production at four assembly plants, three Japanese-owned and one American-owned, all of which saw double-digit declines.

Of particular note is the case of Honda, whose operations at its Celaya plant were impacted by the interruption in the supply of semiconductors caused by the Chinese government's intervention in the company Nexperia.

According to data reported by the Japanese company to Inegi, November production collapsed by 71.8%, falling below 5,000 units, even when taking into account the volume of its luxury brand Acura.

In contrast, the cumulative decline in the first eleven months of the year stands at -2.6%, with just over 179,000 units, also including ADX production.

Mazda was another automaker whose activity declined sharply last month, in this case by -33.4% with the production of 12,574 units.

The Hiroshima-based automaker has accumulated a decline of -15.7% in 2025, with a total of 164,918 cars and trucks assembled in these eleven months.

Nissan joined the negative streak with a 17.6% drop in monthly production, driven both by the conclusion of the production program for the Infiniti QX50 and its QX55 variant at the COMPAS plant in Aguascalientes, and by the start of the closure of operations at the CIVAC plant in the state of Morelos.

The Japanese company has accumulated production of almost 623,000 units this year, which translates into a reduction of -2% when compared to the volume from January to November 2024.

Finally, General Motors, impacted by the cancellation of tax incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles, drastically reduced the production of zero-emission units at its Ramos Arizpe plant to adjust its inventories to the new conditions of the US market.

The measure resulted in a -13.1% decline in November, with just over 75,000 units produced, while the total figure for the year is around 818,000 vehicles, reflecting a contraction of -1.8%.

The largest reduction was in the production of the Equinox EV, whose volume decreased by 60.7% last month, followed by the Prologue, which GM assembles for Honda, with a contraction of 55.5%.

In the case of the zero-emission version of the Blazer, the drop was -48.3%, while production of the Cadillac Optiq fell by -16.6%.

Assembly Plants on the Rise

Alongside the negative results, there were also assembly plants that recorded considerable upturns, such as Audi, which reported a 24% increase with the production of 13,617 units.

It is worth mentioning that this is the second month that the German premium automaker has reported double-digit increases, and with these results, the total figure for 2025 stands at 137,759 trucks, a volume that exceeds that of 2024 by only 252 units.

Similarly, Ford Motor Company, which has managed to maintain above-average sales in the U.S. market with vehicles that combine affordability and value, recorded a 22% uptick in production during November.

In keeping with the times, the blue oval company also reduced the volume of the electric Mustang Mach-E by 54% last month. However, this drop was offset by increases of 41.6% and 38.6% in the production of the Maverick and Bronco Sport, respectively.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company has assembled 382,469 units at its two plants in Mexico during the current year, which translates into a 5% increase over 2024.

Finally, Volkswagen, which has also had a difficult year in the U.S. market, reported 13% growth with production of just over 33,000 units.

Despite this performance, the German automaker's cumulative figures remain 14% below the volume achieved between January and November last year, with just over 317,000 cars and trucks.