Leading commercial vehicle brands in Mexico 2021

At over 16,650 total units sold in 2021, Freightliner of the United States was the leading brand both in terms of wholesale trade and retail sales of commercial vehicles in Mexico. It was followed closely by Kenworth and International. Overall, retail sales were more popular than wholesale trade when it came to buying heavy vehicles.

Mexico’s commercial vehicle market

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected heavy vehicle sales in Mexico, with retail sales reaching around 27,000 and wholesales falling to just under 24,000 units. This represented a 37.8 percent slump compared to 2019, visible in both wholesale and retail trade. By contrast, over 137,000 units were produced in the country in 2020, Mexico's heavy vehicle production volume being over double the national sales. Most of Mexico’s heavy vehicle output is exported, which represented over 115,700 commercial vehicles that same year.
Within the Mexican commercial vehicle fleet, diesel remained the leading fuel type as of 2019, dwarfing all other fuel types. Electric heavy vehicles, due in part to a lack of access to charging infrastructure for heavy electric commercial vehicles, were the least popular fuel type that same year.

The global commercial vehicle market

The economic downturn felt in Mexico is also visible globally. Commercial vehicle sales worldwide totaled under 24.4 million vehicles in 2020, about nine percent below the 2019 level. Overall, the North American free-trade zone produced some 383,000 heavy vehicle units worldwide, with Mexico representing under a third of this output.
The Mexican market reflects its international counterpart in terms of brand popularity. Germany-based Daimler and the American PACCAR were the first and fourth leading brands worldwide, recording worldwide revenues of 42.5 and 17.1 billion U.S. dollars respectively. Freightliner, leader in the Mexican market, is a subsidiary of Daimler North America. Its main competitor, Kenworth, was owned by PACCAR.