New vehicle sales in Mexico grew 28.1 percent, year-over-year, in February to 101,911 units, the third time the level of 100,000 units per month has been exceeded in the last 36 months, while still below pre-recession and pre-pandemic levels, according to data from national statistics agency Inegi, analyzed by SteelOrbis.
The annual increase of 28.1 percent in February is the most dynamic in the last 23 years, only surpassed by the 52.4 percent of the same month in 2000. It is also the tenth consecutive annual increase. However, the level of sales for the month and the accumulated January-February are below the levels prior to the economic crisis in Mexico, which began a year before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
In the two-month period of January-February 2023, 196,325 units were sold. In the last 36 months (from March 2020 to February 2023), monthly vehicle sales exceeded 100,000 units only three times: December 2020 with 105,603 units, December 2022 with 123,382 units and February 2023.
The INEGI information comes from the records of three companies and the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), which brings together 22 vehicle assemblers.
The companies not affiliated with the AMIA are the Chinese companies Motornation (Changan, Beijing Automotive Group and Jiangling Motors Corporation), Chirey Motor (Chery Automobile) and the Mexican company that has billionaire Carlos Slim Helú as a partner in Giant Motors Latin America that manufactures the Chinese brands JAC Motors and First Automobile Works (FAW).