This is how auto sales ended up in September over the NAFTA region

4 October, 2018

Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, bool given in /home/mexiconow/public_html/sites/mexiconow/wp-content/themes/mexiconowwpnew/single.php on line 253

Nearly 1.73 million vehicles were sold in North America last month, which represents a 5% decline compared to the 1.82 million units sold in September 2017. Around 83.3% of last month sales took place in the United States.

Last month, light-vehicle sales in the U.S. market fell about 5.5% compared to September 2017, when insurance payments for cars totaled by Hurricane Harvey led to atypical sales volumes for that part of the year. Also, one fewer selling day, increasing interest rates and concerns on trade issues played a role, according to analysts.

However, it was a good month for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, whose strong demand for its Jeep and Ram brands led to a 15% increase on sales of 199,819 vehicles. It was the first time since January 2007 that the American-Italian automaker outsold Ford on a monthly basis.

The U.S. market is destination to 71.6% of Mexico’s auto exports. During the first quarter of 2018 a total 598,028 units were shipped to the United States. Such figure represents 14.6% of total U.S. sales during that period.

Auto dealers in Mexico sold 114,653 new light vehicles during September, down 1.5% compared to 116,356 units delivered in the same month of last year. The balance was negative despite the fact that auto sales were unusually low in September 2017 due to the two earthquakes that shook the central region of the country during that month.

Total sales from January through September are now of 1,028,379 vehicles, which represents a 7.1% drop compared to the 1,106,848 units sold during the same 9-month period of 2017.

In Canada, new light vehicle sales were down by 7.4% in September compared with the same month last year. It was the largest monthly drop since 2009, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

Sales were down by close to 14,000 units to total 172,974 passenger cars and light trucks sold in September, making it the lowest sales figure for the month since 2014. Year-to-date sales through September are now of 1,565,910 vehicles, a decrease of 1.6% compared to the same 9-month period of 2017.

DesRosiers says uncertainty from North American trade deal negotiations may have contributed to the decrease in sales. The loss in September marks the seventh straight month of declines. Overall passenger car sales were down 13.7% while light truck deliveries fell by 4.7%.

The latest public data available show that Canada is the second most important destination for Mexico’s auto exports with 61,721 vehicles during the first quarter of 2018, accounting for 7.4% of the country’s shipments. However, those figures represent a 5.8% decline if compared to the same period of 2017.

MexicoNow

- US auto sales drop 5.5% in September as interest rates rise up