MEXICO Mexico Fleet Market Resilient in Face of Uncertainty Calendar-year 2016 sales shows were strong, but there are headwinds buf-feting 2017 auto sales, in particular, the risk of higher interest rates, and a weaker Mexican peso vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar. BY MIKE ANTICH PHOTO: ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DABOOST A uto sales in Mexico increased 19% in calendar-year 2016 to a record 1,603,672 light vehicles. General Motors Mexico pro-duced 20% of these units. hat marked two consecutive years of double-digit gains for the domestic market fueled by strong auto inancing and a stable economy, as well as more rigorous enforcement to curb ille-gal imports of used cars from the United States, which cannibalize new-vehicle sales. Today, Mexico is the world’s seventh larg-est automotive producer and the world’s fourth largest exporter of assembled auto-mobiles. he total Mexican automotive in-dustry employs 1.7 million people, which includes direct and indirect employees. In addition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the U.S. and Canada, Mexico has signed nine oth-er free trade agreements with other coun-tries. hese 10 agreements, cumulatively, over the past decade, have stimulated a surge in international investment to build new factories to export or sell vehicles in the local market. he Mexican economy continues to grow, fueled by an economic expansion in the agricultural sector and services industry. In addition, the weakness of the peso, along with the ongoing improvement in global demand, have positively afected Mexico’s merchandise exports in the irst two months of 2017. Mexico Retail & Fleet Markets Total auto sales in Mexico have been stim-ulated in recent years by a sharp growth in automaker inancing, low interest rates, and aggressive retail pricing as newer brands began to expand their sales in the Mexican market, such as Kia and Hyundai, which captured about 6 percent of the market be-tween them last year. Nissan Motor Co. continues to be the leader in total Mexico automotive sales with a 25% market share at just over 400,000 unit sales, according to the Mexican Au-PHOTO: MIKE ANTICH Auto sales in Mexico increased 19% in calendar-year 2016 to a record high of 1,603,672 light vehicles. General Motors Mexi-co produced 20% of these units, marking two consecutive years of double digit gains for the domestic market fueled by strong auto inancing and a stable economy. 8 AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I Q2 2017
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