Photo: Automotive Supply News

XINHUA

New vehicles sales in Mexico rose 5.75 percent in August compared to the previous month, climbing for the fourth consecutive month amid the covid-19 pandemic, official figures showed Wednesday, Sept. 2.

Sales reached 77,092 units in August, compared to 72,897 in July, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) said.

Vehicle sales plunged to 34,903 units in April, after the rapid spread of the virus forced the closure of dealerships.

The deputy general director of the Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors (AMDA), Guillermo Rosales, said the latest numbers indicate recovery of the sector will be slow, since the August figure is still 28.7 percent below the same month of 2019.

“The recovery curve in demand for new light vehicles in Mexico will be slow, maintaining at AMDA the expectation of a more than 27 percent drop (in sales) in 2020 compared to last year,” Rosales said in a statement.

On June 1, Mexico began to gradually reactivate some sectors of the economy that were idled at the end of March to prevent the spread of covid-19 infections.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast a 10.5 percent contraction for Mexico’s economy in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus.

…Sept. 3, 2020