Mexican car exports fall more than 13% due to shortage of electronic chips

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The temporary closure of several plants in Mexico caused auto exports to fall to their lowest volume since March 2016.

Mexico’s light vehicle production increased 12.52% in March in the year-on-year comparison, while auto exports decreased 13.24%, the local national statistical institute, INEGI, said on Thursday.

The production and export of cars in the second largest economy in Latin America plunged in 2020, mainly due to the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

It should be remembered that in recent months, assembly companies such as Nissan, General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi, among others, announced partial or temporary closures of their plants due to the shortage of semiconductors in the world.

Because most of the production is for international markets, vehicle exports fell to their lowest volume since March 2016.

“In March 256,119 light vehicles were exported and for the period January-March 2021, a total of 693,639 exported units were reported. In this same period, there was a variation of (-) 14.1% compared to 2020 ”, cites the INEGI report.

According to the INEGI statement, the total production of light vehicles in Mexico, for the period January-March 2021 is 821,124 units, “it is shown that light trucks represent 73.6% of the total, while the rest corresponds to the manufacture of automobiles.”