Mexico Records Drop in Vehicle Production and Exports in 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexico’s vehicle production and exports fell in 2020 as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) announced on Friday, January 8th.

In 2020, Mexico produced 3,040,178 vehicles, a 20.23 percent drop from 2019, according to the institute’s monthly report.

The sector’s exports, mostly to the United States, stood at 2,681,806 vehicles, a fall of 20.85 percent compared to 2019.

INEGI President Julio Santaella said on his Twitter account that despite the annual drops, December’s data showed a recovery. “The industry’s production of light vehicles registered an annual increase of 18.4 percent in December,” wrote Santaella.

Moreover, in the final month of 2020, exports increased by 16.14 percent annually, totaling 275,081 units, said the report.

According to International Monetary Fund estimates, Mexican economy, the second largest in Latin America, may record a 9 percent drop in 2020 due to the pandemic, the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s.