Faced with slower growth in the economy and a slowdown in emerging economies, the Mexican rate of auto exportation continued to decline in July by 7.3 percent, while vehicle production in the same month advanced slightly by 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
In a release from the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), Mexican automakers exported 192,940 vehicles in July, 7.3 percent less than in July 2012. For the first seven months of the year Mexico produced a total of 1,722,919 vehicles, up 4.1 percent year-on-year.
The production volume in the period from January to July of this year is the highest recorded to date for that period, of which 83.9 percent were exported and 16.1 percent remained in the domestic market.
When comparing regional cumulative export volumes in the first seven months of 2013 with those exported in the same period of 2012, it appears that exports to Asia grew 109.1 percent, followed by Canada, which grew 15.6 percent, Africa with 2.3 percent growth and the US with 2.0 percent.
Meanwhile, destinations such as Latin America and Europe showed decreasing rates, 27.3 percent and 15.6 percent respectively. The reduction is due to the restriction of exports to Brazil and Argentina, as well as the difficult economic situation in Europe.
In the domestic market, car sales rose 13.4 percent in July 2013, to sell 86,645 light vehicles. Cumulatively, the domestic market sold 588,632 vehicles, 9.3 percent higher than sold during the first seven months of 2012.
Despite the increased sales rates, one of the factors that have inhibited the recovery of the market is the import of used vehicles, which presented a growth rate of 52 percent in the first half 2013, compared to the first half of 2012, according to the AMIA.