Mexican automotive industry in 2021: full year data and analysis

PRODUCTION

In 2021, Mexico produced a total of 2,979,276 vehicles. Throughout the year, both the semiconductor crisis and logistical disruption caused production sites to stop, resulting in hundreds of thousands of vehicles less than expected; a -2% drop in production compared to 2020. In the month of December, only 212,272 vehicles were added to the total for the year, 16.51% less than in December 2020.

The manufacturers with the highest production in 2021 were:

Nissan: 536,323

GM: 518,175

Stellantis: 406,973

Volkswagen: 294,408

Toyota: 222,346

With the production halts at the General Motors plants, their results were affected with a drop of -28.9% during the year. On the other side, Toyota grew by 31.3% and Ford Motor increased its production by 60.4%, reaching 218,289 units, a Little below KIA, which ranked sixth with 219,400 units.

EXPORTS

Mexico accumulated a total of 2,706,980 light vehicles exported between January and December 2021, 0.9% more than in 2020. In this regard, the export of trucks produced in the country increased considerably (12.5% ​​against 2020), with the introduction of models such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the first all-electric vehicle mass-produced in Mexico and the scaling up of  production for the Toyota Tacoma in Guanajuato. Exports in the month of December 2021 were up to 227,465 vehicles, 17.3% less than in the same month of 2020.

We must remark that a total of 2,071,668 light vehicles produced in Mexico were exported to the United States in 2021.

The brands with the highest exports in 2021 were:

GM: 531,383

Stellantis: 404,453

Nissan: 390,501

Volkswagen: 254,331

Toyota: 220,126

SALES

In 2021 a total of 1,014,680 vehicles were sold; 6.8% more than in 2020. From that total number, 367,235 vehicles sold were manufactured in Mexico and 647,445 were imported, a growth of 1.5% and 10.1%, respectively.

In the last year, the growth of Chinese brands in Mexico stood out, growing an impressive 307.56% compared to 2020, with a total of 26,593 units sold during 2021. The most important of these brands being MG Motor with 16,358 units sold.

The brands with sales of less than 25 thousand units that managed to grow the most compared to 2020 were:

MG Motor: 2,203.9% (16,358 sales).

JAC: 92.1% (8,203 sales).

Mitsubishi: 71.1% (17,872 sales).

Subaru: 46.7% (2,119 sales).

SEAT: 39.3% (20,942 sales).

While the big brands (over 25 thousand sales) that grew the most during 2021 were:

Suzuki 27.2% (33,044 sales).

Toyota 19.0% (91,090 sales).

Hyundai 15.4% (37,209 sales).

KIA: 11.4% (82,040 sales).

Renault 10.6% (28,218 sales).

Meanwhile, brands such as General Motors and Honda fell -15.3% and -10.8% respectively. Other brands such as Mercedes-Benz fell -7.0%, Infiniti -17.3%, and Audi -4.3%.

The brands with the most sales in Mexico during 2021 were:

Nissan: 203,918

General Motors: 127,300

Volkswagen: 98,436

Toyota: 91,090

KIA: 82,040

BEST-SELLING CARS

In 2021, a champion remains: the Nissan Versa, renewed at the end of 2019, continues its reign as the best-selling car in the country, achieving 7,124 sales in a single month, the highest figure in 2021 for a single model, during the month of March.

The list of the best-selling cars of 2021 looks like this:

Nissan Versa: 69,775

Nissan NP300: 47,884

Chrysler Aveo: 37,039

Nissan March: 34,974

Volkswagen Vento: 29,380

To consult the rest of the statistics, visit: https://www.inegi.org.mx/datosprimarios/iavl/