Light vehicle production from January through October in Mexico totaled an unprecedented 3,194,872 units — an increase of 10 percent over the 2,904,971 assembled in the first 10 months of 2016, according to the AMIA.
Exports of the same vehicles in the first 10 months grew 11.7 percent year on year, totaling a record 2,575,361, compared with 2,306,293 exported in 2016, according to AMIA. The U.S. accounted for 76.1 percent of the exports, importing 1,961,097 units from Mexico. That is an increase of 10.4 percent over the same period of 2016, when the country imported 1,775,955.
The AMIA said imports from Mexico accounted for 13.9 percent of the new light vehicle market in the U.S. through October.
According to Mexico's central bank (Banco de México), the country's gross domestic product will grow 2.10 percent in 2017 and 2.25 percent in 2018. Analysts expect inflation to end 2017 at 6.25 percent and to fall to 3.85 percent in 2018.
Factors that could harm economic growth, experts say, include:
- Internal political uncertainty, as a presidential election will be held on July 1, 2018;
- Falling crude oil production; and
- Violent crime in various parts of the country.
Stephen Downer is a Mexico-based freelance writer who covers that country and Latin America for Tire Business and its Latin America e-newsletter.
