North American auto assemblies also impacted by cyber breach

The disruption slowed sales in the second half of the month. The dynamic pushed the new-vehicle days’ supply at the start of July to 116 days, more than doubling vs. May, and 110% higher y/y. This increase in supply could potentially impact production, according to Cox Automotive.

North American vehicle production, including personal and commercial vehicles, totaled 1.36 million units in June, a 5.9% decrease from 1.45 million units in May. It’s roughly 1.4% behind, however, the 1.38 million units produced one year ago.

Below in Figure 1 is a five-year snapshot of North American light-vehicle production since 2019 on a rolling 12-month basis with a y/y growth rate. Also included is a five-year snapshot of the average monthly production, which includes seasonality since 2019.

A short-term snapshot of assembly by nation and vehicle type is shown in the table below. It breaks down total North American personal and commercial vehicle production into US, Canadian, and Mexican components. It also includes the three- and 12-month growth rates for each and their momentum change.

For the three months and 12 months through June, the growth rate for total personal and commercial vehicle assemblies in the USMCA region is positive – with commercial well ahead. The momentum change, however, remains noticeably behind for the personal vehicle segment.

Personal vehicle production

The longer-term picture of personal vehicle production across North America is shown below. The charts in Figure 2 show the total personal vehicle production for North America and the total for the US, Canada, and Mexico.

In terms of personal vehicle production, this segment saw an 8.1% m/m decline in June, after seeing a marginal gain the month prior. The result was similarly pronounced vs. the same period one year ago, a 4.1% loss.

The US saw a 4.9% production loss m/m, with 34,211 fewer units produced in June. Mexico produced 42,151 fewer units m/m (-16.7%) while Canada’s production was down 8,828 units (-8.7%).

Production share across North America was little changed. The US saw personal vehicle production share of the North American market at 66.9%, followed by Mexico and Canada at 23.2% and 9.9%, respectively.

Commercial vehicle production

Total commercial vehicle production for North America and the total for each nation within the region are shown in the first chart in Figure 3 on a rolling three-month basis. Commercial vehicle production in the US and Mexico and their y/y growth rates, as well as the production share for each nation in North America, are also shown.

North American commercial vehicle production in the region saw a 12.4% decline m/m with a total of 337,049 units after nearly reaching a five-year high in May. The result was also down vs. the same period one year ago, a 9.3% loss.

The US saw a 16.1% drop m/m, with 41,922 fewer commercial vehicle assembled in June. It was followed by Canada, down 5.3% (-792 units) and Mexico, down 4.4% (-4,970 units).

June marked Canada’s 32nd straight month of assembling commercial vehicles, after ceasing production for nearly two years from Jan. 2020 through Oct. 2021.

The market share across the region was also largely unchanged. The US total share was 66.6%, followed by Mexico with a 29.4% share, and Canada with a 3.9% share in May.

Presently, Mexico exports just under 80% of its light-vehicle production, with the US and Canada as the highest-volume destinations.

Editor’s Note: This report is based on data from LMC Automotive for automotive assemblies in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The breakdown of assemblies is “Personal” (cars for personal use) and “Commercial” (light vehicles with less than 6.0 metric tons gross vehicle weight rating; heavy trucks and buses are not included).