Auto exports fell by 12.7% from August 2018 to 281,811 units, the biggest decline since April 2016, the data showed.

Automotive production, meanwhile, contracted by 9.6% to 337,462 units, the fourth consecutive month of decline, and the biggest drop since last December, the data showed.

The automotive industry is a mainstay of Mexico's export sector, which has been one of the few bright spots for the country's struggling economy this year.

Mexico narrowly avoided a recession in the first half of 2019, and the auto data offer little respite for the economy.

Automotive output declined 0.9% during the first eight months of the year, the data show. If that trend continues, the industry will this year suffer its worst year in a decade.?Reuters