MEXICO CITY, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's light vehicle production and exports could both grow 12 percent in 2021, general director of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA), Fausto Cuevas, said on Monday.

"That takes into account that the outlook for the markets in the United States and Canada are quite favorable for this year," Cuevas said in a videoconference with journalists, referring to Mexico's two partners in automotive matters.

"That would allow us to gradually return to the figures we had before the pandemic," Cuevas added.

National production and exports of vehicles plummeted in 2020 by 20 percent each, due to the global impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to figures released Friday by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

Mexico exports a large part of its production to the United States, its northern neighbor and main trade partner.

Despite the forecast recovery for the sector this year, the executive president of the National Auto Parts Industry (INA), Oscar Albin, warned some companies were beginning to see an "unusual" shortage in electronic semiconductors due to COVID-19.

"The supply of semiconductors is being diverted to things like laptops and telephones, and the automotive industry is moving into a secondary place," Albin said during the same encounter with the media.

"It is not a Mexican issue, it is a global issue that affects Asia, Europe, and North and South America," he added.

Despite that, Albin said Mexican production of auto parts could reach close to 97 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, the same as in 2019, after dropping in 2020 to 78 billion dollars. Enditem

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