Mexico April 2020: Ram (-45.8%), Toyota (-53.3%), Mazda (-55.3%) resist in market down -64.5%

Toyota Corolla sales are up 77.3% in Mexico in April.

As we predicted last month, the Mexican new car market crumbles under the weight of the coronavirus crisis in April at -64.5% year-on-year to 34.903 registrations, pulling the year-to-date volume down -23.1% to 331.580 units. As it is the case in most of Latin America which is fast becoming the new epicentre of the pandemic, the COVID-19 situation is still worsening in Mexico. Confirmed cases surged from just 1.215 and 29 deaths as of March 31, to 19.224 and 1.859 deaths as of April 30, and 71.105 and 7.633 deaths as of May 25. Over the past week, Mexico ranks #3 in the world for COVID-19 deaths at 2.301 only surpassed by the US (7.851) and Brazil (6.620). This could indicate a lockdown extension well into June and similarly depleted sales throughout May and June.

For once market leader Nissan (-62.1%) resists slightly better at 19.8% share, distancing Chevrolet (-64.5%) and Volkswagen (-66.3%) like in March, YTD and over FY2019. Ram (-45.8%), Toyota (-53.3%), Mazda (-55.3%) and Ford (-58.4%) post the best holds in the Top 10 whereas Honda (-76.4%), Kia (-71.7%) and Hyundai (-70.3%) implode. Further down, Porsche (-31.4%), JAC  (-43.2%) and Mercedes (-52.5%) stand out but steep declines are a lot more common, such as Isuzu (-91.4%), Acura (-90.9%), Jaguar (-90%), Mini (-89.3%), Buick (-83%), Mitsubishi (-81.6%), BAIC (-80.8%) or Fiat (-80%).

Over in the models ranking, the Nissan Versa (-54.5%) enjoys a 7th straight monthly win above the Nissan Pickup (-56.7%) while the Chevrolet Beat (-60.8%) and Nissan March (-62%) both drop one spot on March to #3 and #4 respectively. The Chevrolet Onix remains the most popular new launch in Mexico by far, edging up one rank on last month to a record 8th place while the Ford F-Series (-37.9%) scores the best hold in the Top 10 and shoots up 12 spots on March to land at #9 vs. #20 YTD. The Toyota Sienna (-0.6%) manages the exploit of stable sales year-on-year, gaining 9 ranks on last month to a record #11 as a result vs. #46 YTD. The Toyota Corolla (+77.3%), Mercedes GLE (+28.7%), Renault Kwid (+17.1%), Ram Promaster (-4.5%), Toyota RAV4 (-12.6%) and Toyota Tacoma (-20.7%) also stand out in a Top 50 that also includes the new Kia Seltos (#23), VW Virtus (#43) and Mazda CX-30 (#45).

Previous month: Mexico March 2020: Kia hits record 8% share, Ram (+37.9%) only gainer in market down -25.5%

One year ago: Mexico April 2019: Suzuki (+23.2%), Mazda (+2.4%) survive market down -10.2%

Full April 2020 Top 40 All-brands and Top XXX All-models below.