The value of exports from the automotive industry in Mexico registered a year-over-year drop of 6.5 percent in January, the first drop in the last nine months. In addition, the reported value is the lowest in the last 18 months, according to an analysis by SteelOrbis of preliminary data from the national statistics agency Inegi.
Furthermore, in January the automotive industry lost share of total exports, going from 31.9 percent in the first month of 2023 to 30.3 percent last January. The 6.5 percent drop far exceeded the 2.0 percent drop in exports of the manufacturing industry as a whole and the 1.5 percent drop in total exports of the Mexican economy.
The decline recorded by automotive products manufactured in Mexico was widespread, although sales channeled to the United States decreased only 1.8 percent, year-over-year, to $11.0 billion. Meanwhile, automotive exports to the rest of the world decreased 28.3 percent, to $1.7 billion.
In 2023, automotive industry exports, which mainly include the assembly of light vehicles, heavy trucks and auto parts, set a new historical record with $188.9 billion, a figure that represented an increase of $23.7 billion or 14.3 percent compared to 2022.
The monthly average of automotive industry exports in 2023 was $15.7 billion.