Mexico’s heavy-vehicle trade posted sharp year-over-year declines in manufacturing, exports and gross sales in February, signaling continued weak spot throughout the nation’s truck manufacturing sector.
Mexico’s Nationwide Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported that 6,974 heavy autos have been produced in February, a 49.1% decline in comparison with the identical month in 2025. Exports additionally fell, with 7,849 items shipped overseas, a 32% drop yr over yr.
The declines additionally provide a window into the broader North American freight cycle. Mexico is a key manufacturing hub for tractor-trailers utilized by U.S. fleets shifting items throughout the U.S.-Mexico border. When freight demand softens or carriers delay fleet upgrades within the U.S., Mexico’s truck factories and export volumes typically transfer in tandem.
Home demand additionally weakened considerably. Retail gross sales totaled 2,303 items in February, down 38.9% from a yr earlier, whereas wholesale gross sales reached 1,836 items, a 27.3% decline in contrast with February 2025.
For the primary two months of 2026, the trade produced 13,767 heavy autos, representing a 50.5% decline from the identical interval final yr, whereas exports totaled 12,925 items, down 42.6% yr over yr.
Home truck demand continues lengthy slide
Business officers say the downturn displays weakening demand in Mexico’s home trucking market, which has now posted greater than a yr of declines.
Cristina Vázquez, coordinator of financial research for the Mexican Affiliation of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), stated the market has been in a chronic contraction.
“With the outcomes launched immediately, we now have gathered 14 consecutive months of decline within the Mexican market in year-over-year phrases,” Vázquez stated throughout a information convention on Tuesday.
Retail gross sales in February totaled 2,303 heavy autos, almost 39% fewer than the identical month in 2025, reflecting a slowdown after report demand in 2024.
Vázquez stated weakening funding traits are additionally weighing on truck purchases.
“The mounted gross funding indicator — significantly equipment and gear — has been in damaging territory for greater than a yr,” she stated. “That sends a really related sign about confidence within the financial setting and the willingness of firms to put money into capital belongings corresponding to heavy autos.”
Manufacturing stoop spreads throughout truck segments
Manufacturing declines have been widespread throughout the heavy truck sector.
Of the 6,974 heavy autos produced in February, about 6,739 have been cargo vans and tractor-trailers, whereas 235 have been passenger buses, based on figures introduced in the course of the information convention.
Cargo autos account for the overwhelming majority of Mexico’s heavy-vehicle manufacturing, representing greater than 97% of complete output in the course of the first two months of 2026.
Exports nonetheless dominated by U.S. market
Regardless of the sharp annual decline, exports rebounded barely in contrast with January.
Mexico exported 7,849 heavy autos in February, up greater than 50% from January, based on information from Mexico’s Nationwide Affiliation of Bus, Truck and Tractor-Trailer Producers (Anpact).
Alejandro Osorio, director of public affairs and communication at ANPACT, stated the month-to-month enchancment supplied cautious optimism.
“These are incipient however encouraging indicators within the conduct of exports,” Osorio stated in the course of the information convention.
Nevertheless, exports stay considerably decrease than a yr earlier. The U.S. accounted for 91.3% of shipments in February, adopted by Canada (5.7%) and Colombia (2.6%).
The 16 members of Anpact in Mexico are Freightliner, Kenworth, Navistar, Hino, Worldwide, DINA, MAN SE, Mercedes-Benz, Isuzu, Scania, Shacman Vehicles, Foton, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Daimler Buses Mexico and Volkswagen Buses.
Osorio stated the trade is navigating a risky international setting that continues to have an effect on demand.
“The trade is dealing with a posh setting marked by changes in home demand and volatility in worldwide markets,” he stated. “Strengthening competitiveness and recovering the interior market will probably be key for the sector going ahead.”
Freightliner was the highest truck producer and exporter in Mexico in February, producing 5,538 vans, a 32% year-over-year decline. The truck maker exported 5,264 items in the course of the month, a 31% year-over-year lower.
Worldwide Vehicles Inc. was the No. 2 producer and exporter throughout February, manufacturing 307 vans, a 91% year-over-year lower. The truck maker’s exports fell 31% year-over-year to 2,251 items in the course of the month.
Used truck imports cited as trade concern
Business representatives additionally warned that rising imports of used vans from the U.S. are undercutting new-vehicle gross sales in Mexico.
Osorio stated the imbalance between new and used truck purchases has change into a serious distortion out there.
“For each 100 new heavy autos bought in Mexico, about 64 used vans enter the nation,” he stated, warning the development is harming home producers and transport firms.
Older imported vans additionally elevate environmental and security considerations, he added, as a result of many items arriving in Mexico have already logged tons of of 1000’s of miles within the U.S.
Business outlook unsure
Guillermo Rosales, govt president of AMDA, stated the heavy-vehicle sector is dealing with a number of financial headwinds, together with geopolitical uncertainty and gas value volatility.
“We live by way of a interval of tariff volatility and likewise volatility in gas costs derived from worldwide conflicts,” Rosales stated in the course of the briefing.
Regardless of the slowdown, Rosales stated the trade expects demand to finally stabilize as freight exercise improves.
“The heavy-vehicle trade established in Mexico has traditionally relied on the restoration of each the home and exterior markets to return to normality,” he stated.
Business leaders say the outlook for the rest of 2026 will rely closely on freight demand, funding traits and cross-border commerce exercise throughout North America.
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