Mexico April 2016: Kia impresses in 16th consecutive record month

The new Kia Sportage has landed in Mexico and, simultaneously, in the Top 20. 

* See the Top 40 All-brands and Top 225 All-models by clicking on the title *

With a little delay this month we can share with you BSCB Exclusive all-market data for Mexico. It has now become a bit of a routine: the Mexican new car market celebrates its 16th consecutive month of record sales with volumes up a staggering 25% year-on-year to 118.414, marking 12 consecutive months above 100.000 monthly units and propelling the year-to-date tally up 16% to 465.761 units. If the market continues to grow so vigorously until the end of the year – and there is no reason why it shouldn’t – we can start looking at 1.6 million annual units, compared to a record 1.351.764 in 2015… Nissan is struggling to follow the market’s insane pace at +17% but remains by far the most popular brand in the country with 24.3% share, distancing Chevrolet at 18.6% (+24%) and Volkswagen at 13.8% (+38%). Toyota gains a mammoth 42% to retain its 4th spot ahead of Ford (+9%) and Honda (+25%).

Renault Duster sales are up 64% year-on-year in April in Mexico.

After launching from scratch in July 2015, Korean carmaker Kia confirms it is the success story of the year, further improving its all-time best to 4.033 sales and 3.4% share and accessing the 7th overall spot for the first time, outselling Mazda (3.629) and its sister company Hyundai (3.053) despite sales up 77% to 2.6% share. At the time of publication, Kia had reached a deal with the government of the state of Nuevo Leon to lower the tax breaks it had benefited for its new local factory. Premium brands deliver the best results this month in Mexico, indicating a clear gearing up of customer’s tastes towards more expensive cars: Audi (+30%), BMW (+30%), Infiniti (+30%), Porsche (+37%), Mercedes (+43%), Buick (+44%) and Lincoln (+59%) all deliver fantastic year-on-year gains. Renault is the exception: at +37% it is the third fastest-growing mass brand after Toyota (+42%) and VW (+38%) thanks to its low-cost lineup: the Duster is up 64%, the Logan up 44% and the Sandero up 81%.

The Nissan Versa remains the best-selling nameplate in Mexico.

In the models ranking, the Nissan Versa is once again at the helm thanks to volumes up 42% to 6.063. Leader in 2015, the Chevrolet Aveo is back up 4 spots on last month to #3 with April sales at exactly the same amount (5.359) as in April 2015 even though it lost 21% in January, 31% in February and 32% in March. BSCB is questioning the validity of this month’s Aveo figure and has investigated the matter but Nissan stands by this figure. Volkswagen’s keenly priced sedans are the cornerstone of the brand’s growth this month with the Vento up 36% to #2 and the Jetta up 42% to #6.

VW Vento sales are up 36% to 2nd place overall. 

The Chevy Sonic more than doubles its sales to hit #7, and with the Pickup, Tsuru, March, Sentra, X-Trail and Frontier, we have a staggering seven Nissans in the Top 13. Being an extremely dynamic market, the Mexican models ranking has a wealth of new nameplates (i.e. launched in the past 12 months). The Chevy Equinox leads them at #17, ahead of the Chevy S10 (#19), Kia Sportage (#20), Honda HR-V (#23) and Ford Figo (#24). In the April Top 100, we also find the Kia Rio, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Forte, Sorento, VW Up, Mazda CX-3 and Kia Optima while the Kia Soul makes its very first appearance in Mexico at #102.

Previous month: Mexico March 2016: Nissan Versa tops 15th consecutive record month

One year ago (Top 10 data): Mexico April 2015: Fourth consecutive record month

One year ago (complete data): Mexico April 2015: Top 220 All-models and All-brands now available

Full April 2016 Top 40 All-brands and Top 225 All-models below.