Americans aren’t drinking as much Mexican beer — that’s not been good for Constellation

The nation’s largest beer importer by sales just saw a 10-year growth streak come to an abrupt end.

4/13/26 10:45AM

For years, Americans couldn’t get enough of Modelo and Corona, helping turn their US importer, Constellation Brands, into one of the fastest-growing companies in consumer staples. Now, that streak may finally be drying up.

Last week, the beer and wine giant reported a 10% decline in net sales for the year ended February 2026, driven by a 3% drop in beer sales and a 51% plunge across its wine and spirits — though the latter segment was largely dragged down by its divestiture of lower-end wine labels.

The company said that overall demand across beer, wine, and spirits “remained subdued” during much of the year as its core customer base, particularly lower-income households and Hispanic consumers, cut back on spending or traded down to cheaper alternatives amid economic uncertainty.

When Constellation acquired the full US rights to import and sell a bevy of Mexican beer brands, including Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico, in 2013, beer made up roughly half of its sales. Today, that share exceeds 90% of total revenue, with Modelo Especial now the top-selling beer brand by dollar sales in the US.

However, the company’s beer sales growth streak reversed for the first time in 12 years in FY26, with shipments falling roughly 4% from the prior year, or just over 15 million cases. The slowdown has been showing up across beer coming from Mexico more broadly, too.

With Constellation accounting for a dominant share (about 93%) of Mexican beer imported into the US, the category’s total import value also fell 4.3% in 2025, marking the first annual decline at the border since 2009 after more than two decades of growth.

Sobered up

The slowing alcohol demand also reflects a longer-term shift in how Americans think about drinking. A 2025 Gallup survey found that US drinking rates hit a record low, with two-thirds of younger Americans saying even moderate drinking is bad for health, up from just 28% in 2005. Meanwhile, the rise of GLP-1s — which a growing body of research links to lower alcohol consumption — alongside the surging popularity of nonalcoholic alternatives have also been weighing on the industry.

Constellation is already responding to the broader shifts. In January, the company launched Modelo’s first-ever nonalcoholic offering, followed by a March acquisition of HOPWTR, a nonalcoholic hop water brand it had backed since 2021.

Max Knoblauch2h

The Trump administration is reportedly planning a 50% made-in-America requirement for USMCA tariff relief

Qualifying for USMCA-related lower tariffs may soon require more US-made vehicle components, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to introduce a 50% US content requirement for vehicles covered by the trade pact to receive lower tariffs. The content would be measured by cost, according to the WSJ.

There currently isn’t any US-specific requirement for those lower tariff rates, but in order to receive preferential tariffs, vehicles are must contain at least 75% regional content (components made in North America). Per Reuters reporting, the Trump admin is seeking to raise the Regional requirement to 82%.

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Overall, Tesla will likely have the easiest time qualifying for any stricter requirements. The automaker’s vehicles contained the highest amount of US/Canadian content in 2025, according to American University research. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scored lower. Notably: the underlying government data that many domestic content measurements rely on intentionally combines US and Canadian components, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much of any given vehicle is specifically US-made.

Exclusive | Trump Administration Wants Autos Under USMCA to Be at Least 50% Made in America

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Tom Jones9h

The $640,000 Luce makes the average Ferrari look like a bargain

Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, the calls from former Chairman and President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to “take the Prancing Horse off.” On the grounds of price alone, Luce detractors might have a point.

By now, many of us will have read the criticisms of Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, as the Luce — which was unveiled to the world earlier this week and promptly saw the company’s shares crash out in New York and Milan — gets subtly shaded by competitors online and not-so-subtly shaded by basically everyone else.

What makes all of this worse for Ferrari is that, even by the luxury car maker’s notoriously high standards, they’ve slapped a pretty hefty price tag on the Luce, and the company’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has already been forced to defend the €550,000 ($640,000) price point, saying yesterday that it’s “fair to pay for innovation,” per Reuters.

While Ferrari’s cars have been getting more expensive of late, as recently as 2022, Ferrari’s average revenue per car sold was around $340,000. At nearly twice that price, this new electric model is obviously proving a little much (visually, conceptually, and financially) for many loyal and long-standing fans of the Prancing Horse to stomach.