SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

TrueCar shared three statistics, in particular, that may offer some perspective on just how much momentum is building in the certified pre-owned business.

First, the 2.6 million CPO sales the firm forecasts for 2015 is larger than its projection for new pickup truck sales (2.3 million) and new premium/exotic vehicles (2.1 million).

Second, the supply of certified vehicles was at 9.3 million in 2013, which represented a 15-year low. Yet, the industry still managed to hit record sales that year, and then followed that up with another record year in 2014 — its fourth in a row.

And now, the pool of all used vehicles ages 1 to 5 (including certified vehicles) is likely to hit 10.4 million this year, TrueCar predicts.

This inventory boost is one of several positive factors pushing CPO sales to what TrueCar forecasts will be an 11-percent year-over-year increase and another all-time record.

"Improved inventory means we can expect a stellar year for the used market — and particularly for certified pre-owned vehicles," said Larry Dominique, TrueCar's executive vice president and president of ALG, TrueCar's residual value data unit. "Across the industry automakers have enhanced CPO programs to delight buyers with longer warranties, improve their own residual values, and successfully grow volumes of these high-margin products for their dealers."

Here’s the third strong stat, for good measure: the CPO business could pull in $45 million in revenue this year, which would be a record, TrueCar says. The firm estimates a certified vehicle will sell for an average of $17,345 in 2015.