The certified pre-owned segment’s positive momentum of 2010 kept rolling along in November, with monthly sales showing their ninth straight year-over-year improvement and year-to-date sales climbing for the fifth straight month.

Specifically, there were 126,651 CPO units sold during November, according to Autodata Corp., which indicated that this total marks a 28.1-percent improvement from a year ago.

Year-to-date sales for the CPO segment almost reached 1.5 million in November. They showed a 6.5-percent hike over the same period of 2009, with the CPO market continuing its improvement.

And as the industry looks to what the new year has in store, several automakers’ CPO leaders offered their perspective on their goals for a successful 2011 and addressed how dealers can best secure certifiable inventory, which has been a major challenge throughout the market.

Starting with BMW of North America, pre-owned manager of marketing Joan Horst Bowen shared what the automaker is striving for in 2011, noting: “We anticipate a slight drop in pre-owned volume during 2011 as off lease maturities decline, but new strategies being introduced to leverage existing portfolios should help minimize the drop.”

Delving into some of the strategies she recommends dealers utilize to fulfill inventory needs, she added: “We have been encouraging BMW dealers to put processes and resources in place to focus more attention on retail finance customers who are in positive equity.”

In November, BMW’s CPO sales reached 8,124 units, compared with 8,307 vehicles in November 2009. Through 11 months of 2010, year-to-date CPO sales were at 102,437 vehicles, down 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, at Mercedes-Benz USA, Scott Penza, manager of pre-owned operations, had the following advice when it comes to finding the inventory for 2011:

“For 2011 it is recommended dealers have multiple channels working together to stimulate the acquisition of cars. It is no surprise that there is a reduction in off-lease cars in 2011 but there are varying degrees of readiness,” he shared.

“There are a number of high performing dealers that have been hard at work preparing for it. We have experienced a lot of creative ideas when traveling around the country but there is one common key element of the successful stores,” Penza continued.

“The truly successful do not limit this to the pre-owned manager role. New-car sales, pre-owned, service and parts all serve as a place to not only to mine new car sales, but to also have the trade opportunity,” he added. “Dealerships engaged in activities that integrate the whole enterprise into this mission will be the most successful.”

Looking at November sales, Mercedes-Benz moved 6,275 CPO units, which marked a 35.6-percent year-over-year upswing. Through 11 months, the company had moved 74,363 certified units, which was up from 66,788 CPO units a year ago.

Moving over to Mazda, Eric Watson, manager of remarketing and CPO, offered some advice as well. He noted: “Dealers will need to actively purchase off-lease vehicles in upstream remarketing channels and aggressively pursue customer trades in the service lane to source high quality used cars in 2011.”

As far as goals for the coming year, Watson is looking to be in “growth mode” with sales increasing twofold. 

“The Mazda certified pre-owned program will be in growth mode for 2011,” he shared. “Our plan is to double Mazda CPO sales again next year.”

As far as November, Mazda posted certified sales of 1,350 units, up from 408 sales a year ago. Year-to-date sales stood at 8,960 units, compared with 4,561 units for the same period of 2009.

Moving along, several other automakers shared their CPO results from November.

Volkswagen’s CPO sales reached 4,597 units, a gain of 83.7 percent year-over-year. At the end of November, yearly sales had reached 50,306 CPO units, an improvement of 23 percent.

“It is exciting to watch our dealers become more engaged in certified pre-owned, and watching our business to grow at a steady pace,” VW’s Rob Martin noted. “We look forward to finishing the year strong, and continuing our success in 2011.”

Audi sold 2,217 certified units in November, up from 1,535 vehicles a year ago. Through 11 months of 2010, Audi’s CPO sales reached 25,642 vehicles, down from 26,419 units a year ago.

Toyota’s CPO sales for the month reached 24,710 units, a gain of 33.9 percent. Year-to-date sales stood at 288,239 certified vehicles, up 18.4 percent year-over-year.

Over at Lexus, it had its best November on record for certified sales, moving 5,232 units. This marked an 18.1-percent year-over-year gain.

Through 11 months of 2010, it had sold 61,268 CPO units, a gain of 8.2 percent.

Among domestics, General Motors’ certified brands combined to move 22,057 vehicles during November, up from 19,286 CPO units a year ago. Through 11 months, year-to-date sales had reached 274,782 certified vehicles, down 15.3 percent from the year-ago period.

GM Certified Used Vehicles — consisting of Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn CPO sales — moved 20,224 units. So far this year, GM Certified’s sales have totaled 250,546, as of November’s end. 

A year ago, GM Certified’s sales — meaning Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac, but not Saturn — reached 16,997 vehicles. Through 11 months of 2009, GM Certified year-to-date results (which included Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile and Pontiac) reached 283,279 units.

For comparison purposes, Saab is not included in the monthly or year-to-date results for either period. That brand moved 166 units in November, down 37.8 percent year-over-year.

“November sales of GM Certified Used Vehicles show yet another positive month, building on our previous sales gains this quarter,” stated Larry Pryg, manager of GM Certified Used Vehicles. “With this progression, we have a positive outlook on 2011.”

Meanwhile, Ford moved 9,926 CPO units in November, a year-over-year gain of 24.3 percent. So far this year, it has sold 122,189 certified models for a 0.4-percent gain.

By brand, the Lincoln/Mercury division sold 1,597 CPO vehicles in November, which was up 40 percent, while the Ford division moved 8,329 CPO vehicles, marking a 21.7-percent uptick.

Moving over to Chrysler, its CPO sales reached 8,577 units during the month, which was a 46.5-percent improvement. As of the end of November, the automaker had moved 98,193 certified vehicles for a 15.6-percent gain.

Breaking it down, Dodge’s CPO sales hit 3,166 units for November, up 32 percent from a year ago. Jeep sold 3,120 certified units, a 66-percent spike.

The Chrysler division’s CPO sales reached 2,291 units, up 45.5 percent from November 2009.

Continuing on, Volvo sold 1,124 certified vehicles during the month, compared with 1,453 CPO units a year ago. Year-to-date sales stood at 15,963 units, compared with 21,388 units a year ago.

Hyundai reported CPO sales of 2,066 units, an improvement of 68 percent. Through November, its dealers moved 20,414 certified vehicles for a 48.4-percent hike.

Moving along, Kia sold 574 certified units during the month, up from 372 CPO vehicles in November 2009. Year-to-date sales reached 6,480 CPO units, up 65.1 percent.

Honda moved 15,387 certified vehicles during the month, a spike of 40.2 percent. Year-to-date sales were at 186,191 CPO units, a 25-percent gain.

CPO sales for Acura reached 3,590 units for the month, an increase of 49.1 percent. Through November, it  sold 40,869 CPO units for an 11.5-percent uptick.

Nissan North America’s CPO sales totaled 7,101 units, compared with 5,947 units a year ago. Year-to-date sales hit 85,046 certified units, versus 72,672 vehicles in the prior-year period.

Breaking it down, the Nissan brand moved 6,156 CPO units in November (up 19.5 percent) and the Infiniti brand’s certified sales reached 945 units (up 18.7 percent).

Subaru sold 2,180 CPO vehicles for the month, which was up 48.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. It moved 18,808 certified vehicles in the first 11 months of the year, which was a 32.3-percent hike.

Among other automakers, Porsche’s certified sales for the month hit 644 vehicles, a gain of 27.5 percent.

Jaguar’s CPO sales reached 324 units in November, up 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Certified sales for Land Rover were at 199 units, compared with 287 CPO vehicles in November 2009.

Mini sold 144 certified vehicles, up from 119 a year ago.

Mitsubishi was estimated to have sold 40 CPO vehicles, compared with 50 units a year ago. It was estimated that Bentley sold 30 certified models, same as a year ago.

Finally, Maserati moved 17 CPO units, compared with 24 vehicles in November 2009.