UPDATE: Mexico's September Auto Production Up, Exports Fall

(Adds details from data, remarks from press conference)

MEXICO CITY --Mexico's auto production rebounded in September after falling the previous month, while exports and domestic sales posted sharp declines, the the Mexican Auto Industry Association, or AMIA, said Monday.

Mexican auto makers produced 189,345 units in September, up 5.1% from the year-ago month, AMIA officials said at a press conference.

Production had slipped in August as some companies adjusted their production platforms to prepare for next year's models.

September exports, meanwhile, fell 7.5% last month from September 2007 to 144,454 units, led by a 32% decline to 13,320 units in exports to Europe.

Exports to the U.S. slid 5.8% to 103,671 units amid a steepening financial crisis and weak consumer confidence, AMIA said.

AMIA President Eduardo Solis said the U.S. auto market suffered its biggest contraction in the past 15 years last month, falling 23.5%.

In Mexico, new car sales posted one of their worst monthly outcomes of the year, plunging 11.5% in September to 76,617 units "as a result of lower consumer confidence due to the uncertainty generated by the international financial turbulence," AMIA said.

Jose Gomez Baez, president of the Mexican Auto Distributors' Association, or AMDA, said last month's drastic drop in sales "doesn't necessarily represent a trend," but rather a "bubble in which people are deferring their purchases until another moment."

In the first nine months of the year, Mexico's auto production rose 5.1% to 1.6 million units, exports rose 4.1% to 1.2 million units and domestic sales fell 2.1% to 762,364 units.

Solis said he expects production and exports to end 2008 with gains of 2%-3%, and domestic sales to fall "at least" 2%-3%.

-By Paul Kiernan, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255) 5001 5726, paul.kiernan@dowjones.com