Here’s how US sales of Mexico-made cars ended up in February

12 March, 2018

Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, bool given in /home/mexiconow/public_html/sites/mexiconow/wp-content/themes/mexiconowwpnew/single.php on line 253

Although car sales in the US market kept cooling down during February, demand for SUVs remained strong. However, such trend did not prevent some sedans from having sales increases during the second month of the year, as was the case for the Nissan Sentra and the Ford Fusion.

Also worth noting is the case of the Kia Forte, which despite registering a drop in sales, was the best-selling model of the Korean brand. Other Mexico-made models that led sales of their respective brands were the Audi Q5 and the all-new Volkswagen Tiguan.

The following report does not necessary reflects that each vehicle sold from certain model was built in Mexico. Automakers constantly mix domestic and overseas supplies from several countries to meet U.S. demand.

Audi

Audi of America reported February sales of 15,451 vehicles, up 12% compared to total sales of same month in 2017. Audi’s year-to-date sales through February totaled 29,962 units, an increase of 11% compared to the same two-month period of 2017.

The Puebla-made Q5 SUV, Audi’s best-selling model in the United States, reached sales of 4,469 units which is almost a third of total deliveries during last month, but also representing a 36% hike compared to the 3,294 units sold in February 2017. Year-to-date sales totaled 8,557 vehicles, an increase of 24% compared to the same two-month period of 2017.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

FCA US reported sales of 165,903 vehicles in February 2018, a 1% decrease compared same month of 2017. Year-to-date sales totaled 298,706 units, down 7%. FCA sold 16,026 Jeep Compass last month. The Toluca-made SUV entered the U.S. market in March 2017, hence there’s still no figures to compare on a year on year basis. Year-to-date sales totaled 26,218 SUVs.

RAM pickup sales were of 33,299 units in February for total year-to-date of 62,657, representing decreases of 15% and 14% respectively. Sales of the Fiat 500 totaled 416 units in February and 870 vehicles on a year-to-date basis, representing decreases of 63% in both cases. FCA plans to add turbo engines in all Fiat 500 versions for 2018 in order to boost sales. The Toluca plant will be the source of those units for the U.S. market at least for this year. Sales of the Dodge Journey totaled 4,782 units in February and 8,144 during the first two months of 2018, down 52% and 64% respectively.

Ford

Overall Ford Motor Company U.S. sales for February totaled 194,132 vehicles, a 6.9% decline. Year-to-date sales were of 355,275 units, down 6.8%. The Ford Fiesta saw its sales decline 10.6% to 3,559 units in February, while its year-to-date sales totaled 7,334 vehicles, down 2.9%. Sales of the Ford Fusion increased 1.3% to 16,721 vehicles, but its year-do-date sales remain 15.5% lower compared to the same two-month period of 2017, to 27,073 vehicles. The Lincoln MKZ saw a 33.5% drop in sales to 1,380 units in February and a decline of 38.6% in a year-to-date basis to 2,556 vehicles.

General Motors

General Motors reported 220,905 car, crossover and truck deliveries in the U.S. in February, down 6.9% versus same month of 2017. Year-to-date sales totaled 419,453 units, which represents a 3.2% decline. The all-new Equinox, which entered the U.S. market last Summer, totaled sales of 24,053 units in February and 50,458 vehicles during the first two months of 2018.

The Chevy Trax saw a 6.6% decline in sales to 6,169 units, but its year-to-date deliveries are 3.5% up to 12,275 vehicles. Sales of the Silverado pickup fell 16.3% to 42,282 units in February, while year-to-date sales are down 3.6% to 82,998 trucks. The GMC Sierra saw a 25.3% decline to 13,162 units and a 22.2% drop in year-to-date sales to 24,386 pickups. Sales of the GMC Terrain were of 10,255 units last month for a total 17,385 deliveries in the first bimester. The SUV entered the U.S. market last August.

Honda

Honda Motor Co. reported U.S. February sales of 115,557 Honda and Acura vehicles, a decrease of 5% versus February 2017. Year-to-date sales are down 3.5% to 220,099 units. Sales of the Honda Fit totaled 3,834 units in February, up 1.9%. However, its year-to-date sales were down 1% to 6,771 vehicles. The HR-V saw a 6.9% increase in sales to 6,791 units, which is a new record for the month. Its year-to-date sales totaled 13,050 vehicles, which represents an 8.4% jump.

Kia/Hyundai

Kia Motors America announced February sales of 40,672 vehicles, down 4.7%. Year-to-date sales totaled 76,300 units, which represents a 2.5% decrease. Its sister brand Hyundai reported February sales of of 46,095 units, a 13% decline, and year-to-date deliveries of 87,337 vehicles, down 12.2%.

Sales of the Kia Rio totaled 1,539 units, up 83.2% from the 840 vehicles delivered in the same month of 2017. The Kia Forte was the brand’s best-selling vehicle in February with 7,662 units, but the figure represented a 9.9% decline compared to last year. Its year-to-date sales totaled 14,350 vehicles, down 2.9%.

Sales of the Hyundai Accent totaled 2,080 units in February, while the year-to-date figure was of 4,509 vehicles. Since last August, the Accent is built in Pesqueria, Nuevo Leon along with the Rio and the Forte.

Mazda

Mazda North American Operations reported total February U.S. sales of 25,731 vehicles, representing an increase of 12.7% and its best February since 1994. Year-to-date sales through February are up 13.9% versus last year, with 50,693 vehicles sold.

Sales of the Mazda3 in sedan and hatchback versions totaled 6,070 units in February, down 11.3%. Year-to-date deliveries reached 11,895 vehicles, which represents a 11.7% decline. Both versions of the Mazda3 for the U.S. market are supplied by the company’s plant in Salamanca, Guanajuato.

Nissan

Nissan Group announced total U.S. sales for February 2018 of 129,930 units including its luxury brand Infiniti, the figure represents a decrease of 4.3% compared to the previous year. Year-to-date sales totaled 253,468 vehicles, up 2.2%.

Sales of the Nissan Versa, including both sedan and hatchback versions, were 27.1% down to 7,196 units in February. Year-to-date sales decreased 22.9% to 14,444 vehicles. On the other hand, the Nissan Sentra saw its sales increase 7.1% to 17,148 units in February, while its year-to-date deliveries are 18.4% higher than last year to 34,879 vehicles.

Toyota

Toyota reported U.S. February 2018 sales of 182,195 vehicles, an increase of 4.5% from February 2017 on a volume basis. Its year-to-date sales are 10% up to 349,251 units. Sales of the Yaris iA, which is built by Mazda at its Guanajuato plant, decreased 12.3% to 2,456 vehicles. Year-to-date are 3.5% down to 4,588 units. Sales of the Toyota Tacoma pickup, built in Tijuana and San Antonio, Texas, hiked 18% to 16,817 units in February, and 25.3% in a year-to-date basis to 33,529 vehicles.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen reported sales of 26,660 units in February 2018, an increase of 6% over February 2017. With 51,404 units delivered year-to-date in 2018, the company is reporting an increase of 5.6% in sales. Sales of the Golf family declined 38.4% to 3,601 units, and 38.5% year-to-date to 7,142 vehicles. All variants of the Golf family are built in Puebla, Mexico except for the e-Golf and the R-Line, which are made in Germany.

Sales of the Jetta totaled 4,592 units in February, while year-to-date deliveries were of 9,123 vehicles, down 42.7% and 38.6% respectively. February sales of the Beetle totaled 1,007 units, down 24.3%. Year-to-date sales totaled 2,119 vehicles, which represented a decline of 12.1%.

The Tiguan Limited saw a 45.8% decline in sales to 1,855 vehicles in February and a 44% drop in year-to-date sales to 3,889 units. The all-new 2018 Tiguan, which entered the U.S. market last August, totaled February sales of 7,486 units and is once again the brand’s best-selling model. Year-to-date sales are now 13,822 vehicles.

MexicoNow

- This is how auto sales ended up during February over the NAFTA region