Mexico is Fourth in World for Luxury Goods EFE
go to original October 3, 2012

Photo taken Nov. 17, 2010, showing the unveiling in Mexico City of the Mastretta MXT, a sports car that was completely designed and produced in Mexico for collectors. (EFE)

MEXICO CITY – Mexico holds the No. 4 spot in the international luxury goods market, thanks to the country’s “economic and political stability,” and import agreements, Luxurylab founder Abelardo Marcondes told Efe.

“The principal difference between Mexico and other countries is the economic and political stability that it has achieved, as well as the import agreements with other countries, much different than Brazil, where import duties are very high,” Marcondes said.

Marcondes, organizer of a luxury brands trade fair that will be held on Nov. 5 in Mexico City, said the industry grew more than 10 percent in the past two years, with the upward trend likely to continue.

The automotive, private airplane, helicopter and boat sectors could become engines of growth for the luxury goods industry, Marcondes said.

Some 7.2 million people, or 5.2 percent of Mexico’s population, have access to high-end goods, Luxurylab says, citing a study prepared by consulting firm KPMG.

Growth in other Latin American countries threatens the dominant position held by Mexico, which studies obtained by Luxurylab show trails only the United States, China and Japan in the sector, the expert said.

“The figures have changed a lot with Brazil, Chile and Colombia, which have grown in the past few years. (Mexico) remains important, it has grown in absolute terms, but in relative terms it has lost standing,” Marcondes said.

The KPMG study found that the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, posted 22 percent growth in the sector in 2011, followed by Latin America, with 12 percent, and Europe, with 6 percent, with spending in Europe likely continuing to decline in 2012 as the “crisis anxiety has increased,” the expert said.

The luxury market in Mexico and Latin America, according to a Boston Consulting Group report, is growing about 15 percent annually due to the increased availability of luxury goods in Mexico, making it unnecessary for high-end consumers to go shopping abroad.

Sales of luxury goods totaled an estimated $12 billion in 2011, up 33 percent from the previous year.

Growth estimates for the sector, according to Luxurylab, hover around 7 percent globally, down from the 12 percent pace of the past few years, but the industry’s growth rate remains comfortably ahead of global economic production projections.

Current figures are hard to get, a problem that will be addressed at the trade fair, which is expected to draw high-level executives, luxury brand representatives and investors, among others, Marcondes said.

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