XINHUA

Mexico’s light vehicle sales fell to a five-year low in 2019, after tumbling 7.7 percent compared to the previous year, the country’s National Institute of Geography and Statistics (Inegi) said Tuesday, Jan. 7.

In 2019, the industry sold a total of 1,317,727 units compared to 1,426,926 units in 2018.

According to the Inegi, these figures are the worst for the industry since 2014, when 1,136,965 units were sold.

In December, sales dropped 8.3 percent compared to the same month the year before, with 130,448 units sold.

The figures derived from 21 companies affiliated with the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA), Mitsubishi Motors and Giant Motors Latin America, said Inegi.

Guillermo Rosales, director general at the Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors (AMDA), said December marked the 31st month in a row of dipping sales, confirming that the domestic market is experiencing a “crisis.”

“The forecast for 2020 continues to be negative, estimating the number of new vehicles sold in Mexico could fall close to 2 percent during the year,” Rosales said in a statement to the media.

“However, automobile distributors predict (sales) will hit bottom in 2020, opening the way to a period of stability, though not representing a rapid recovery to the levels of demand seen between 2014 and 2016,”

New vehicle sales in Mexico reached a record 1,607,165 units in 2016.

The AMDA is urging the government to take steps to spur the automobile sector by renovating public transport, and helping micro and small companies expand or upgrade their fleets with a “robust financing plan” with the participation of development banks and financial institutions.

Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy, underwent a “technical recession” in the first half of 2019 and stagnated in the third quarter.