Mexico Full Year 2017: Kia and Hyundai break records, Nissan Versa #1

The Nissan Versa is the best-selling vehicle in Mexico for the second consecutive year.

* See the Top 40 All-brands and Top 265 models by clicking on the title *

Consult over 25 years of Mexican Historical Data here

After two record years in a row lifting the market from 1.135.000 units in 2014 to 1.604.000 in 2016, new car sales in Mexico take a breather in 2017 with sales down 4.6% to 1.530.624 units, by far the 2nd highest annual score in history. In a year marred by tariff uncertainty on exports to the U.S, the lifeline of the Mexican car industry, the market showed first signs of plateauing back in April when it posted its first year-on-year decline in 35 months after recording 27 consecutive record months. Then Mexico switched to negative for good in June, culminating in a painful 17.5% fall in December. The Top 3 best-selling carmakers all lose share: Nissan is down 9% to 23.8%, Chevrolet down 16% to 16.1% and Volkswagen down 6% to 12.6%. Toyota (+0.5%) and Honda (+0.3%) manage stable sales and round up the Top 5.

Kia broke its monthly volume record 9 times in Mexico in 2017… 

But the success story of the year is once again Korean: launched in Mexico in July 2015, Kia surges 49% to end its second full year in market only 1.500 units below Honda in 6th place but ranking 5th four times. Kia broke its monthly volume record 9 times this year including the last 4 months of 2017, lifting it from 6.030 (December 2016) to 8.080 (December 2017), while its record share went from 4.5% (September 2016) to 6.4% (September 2017). Not to be outdone, sister brand Hyundai – launched here in May 2014 – is up 28% to #9 and also aligns the records, bettering its all-time monthly volume 8 times including the last 5 months of the year to lift it from 3.527 (November 2016) to 5.219 (December 2017) while its record share jumped from 2.6% (April 2016) to 3.5% (September 2017). Other remarkable gains are posted by Fiat (+33%), Lamborghini (+29%), Suzuki (+26%), Isuzu (+23%), Mercedes (+22%), Smart (+20%), Subaru (+18%) and Peugeot (+13%).

…while Hyundai did so 8 times.

Over in the models ranking, the Nissan Versa scores a second consecutive year in pole position with sales up 3% to 6.1% share, remaining unchallenged during most of the year with 10 monthly wins over the first 11 months (the Chevrolet Spark led in March). However December brought a surprise with the Chevrolet Beat, launched in June, taking the lead with an outstanding 12.027 sales and 7.6% share vs. just 9.695 and 6.1% for the Versa. The Beat is by far the most popular new launch in Mexico in 2017, landing directly at #9 with over 40.000 sales. The Nissan Pickup (+9%) gains two spots to #2, toppling the Chevrolet Aveo (-18%) and Spark (-37%) while the VW Vento (+0.3%) and Nissan March (-3%) progress to #4 and #5 respectively.

Launched in June, the Chevrolet Beat snapped the top spot in December. 

The Kia Rio, now locally produced, is up a fantastic 140% to become the first ever Korean nameplate to break into the annual Mexican Top 10 at #10. Notice also the Honda CR-V up 45% to #11 thanks to the new generation, the Nissan Kicks up to #18 for its first full year of sales, the Toyota Hilux up 40% to #24, the Kia Forte up 37% to #25 and the Hyundai Creta up to #32 for its first full year. Five additional 2017 all-new launches make it to the Top 100: the Hyundai Accent (#59), Chevrolet Cavalier (#80), Jeep Renegade (#84), Suzuki Ignis (#86) and Renault Captur (#87).

Previous month: Mexico November 2017: Nissan Versa and Chevrolet Beat shine

Previous year: Mexico Full Year 2016: Record market pounces up 18.6% above 1.6m units

Two years ago: Mexico Full Year 2015: 12 months of records lead market up 19%

Full Year and December 2017 Top 40 All-brands and Top 265 models vs. Full Year 2016 figures below.