The certified pre-owned segment appears to have begun 2012 on the right foot in January, as sales continued to show year-over-year improvement and continue momentum from 2011, which was the best year in CPO history.

Overall, there were 131,229 CPO sales in January, according to Autodata Corp. Despite this being nearly a 17-percent slide from December, it marked a 6-perent increase from the opening month of 2011.

And many individual automakers enjoyed particularly strong months, with some either hitting or narrowly missing best-ever Januaries. Meanwhile, Porsche had its best CPO month of all time, as it sold 812 certified vehicles, a year-over-year improvement of 23.4 percent.

Over at Volkswagen, it also began the year especially strong, notching its best January on record as it moved 5,953 certified vehicles. This represented a 35.4-percent hike.

VW management attributed the robust start to its dealer base and applauded the progress the program has made in recent months.

“Volkswagen CPO sales have started off stronger in 2011 than any other year in the 10-year history of the program. Our dealer engagement is approaching 100 percent and our sales and market share continue to grow,” said Scott Weitzman, general manager of used-vehicle operations at Volkswagen of America.

“It is a tribute to our dealers’ tenacity and creativity in vehicle acquisition that we continue our strong sales roll,” he continued. “We had truly thought the network would be short of adequate inventory starting in October, yet sales have been climbing steadily since.”

Weitzman noted that Volkswagen’s gains on the new-car side continue to prove fruitful for its used-car operations, something he counts as “fortunate.”

“In January, VW dealers sold new cars at a pace not seen since 1974 and they are trading in more quality vehicles (both VW and other brands) as a result. The overall health and profitability of used-car operations at Volkswagen dealerships is improving every month. Remarkably, all of this growth has come without any significant changes to our CPO program,” he added.

“Our success during a period when many competitive programs are making solid enhancements in their offerings, reinforces our belief that Volkswagen CPO maintains a superior dealer and consumer offer,” Weitzman went on to share. “We applaud the enrichment of all CPO programs in the market as it ensures a solid foundation for growth and consumer adoption across the industry going forward.”

Mercedes-Benz saw its CPO sales climb 7.8 percent with 6,945 units sold. Scott Penza, manager of pre-owned operations for Mercedes-Benz USA, pointed to “dealer engagement” as the major catalyst for success.

“We attribute the sustainability of our CPO program and achievement of our sales objectives to dealer engagement. Our dealers certify a very high percentage of their pre-owned vehicles which speaks to their commitment to the program and our customers,” Penza shared.

“Our efforts in 2012 will be focused on continuous improvement to ensure the Mercedes-Benz certified pre-owned program provides dealers with the tools they need, thus providing our customers with the exceptional experience they have come to expect from Mercedes-Benz,” he added.

On the domestic front, General Motors reported CPO sales of 22,849 units in January, up 5 percent year-over-year.

“January 2012 marks the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth for Chevrolet, Buick and GMC Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles since we launched the new program, featuring Owner Care,” said Larry Pryg, national manager, Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles.

“We’re picking up from a highly successful December, and are looking forward to further growth in 2012 as the program really hits its stride,” Pryg continued.

Over at Ford, the certified sales for the Ford/Mercury brands climbed 14.9 percent to 8,840 units, while the Lincoln brand achieved a 76.2-percent gain with 1,417 CPO sales.

Chrysler sold 8,611 CPO units (up 8.7 percent), led by Dodge, which moved 3,914 certified vehicles for a 31.1-percent hike. The Jeep brand had 2,929 CPO sales (up 2.6 percent) with the Chrysler brand selling 1,768 certified units (down 15.2 percent).

Autodata indicated that Fiat, which was not included in Chrysler’s totals, moved four certified units last month.

Continuing on, Kia’s director of fleet and remarketing David Carp was pleased with the brand “fast start” to CPO sales in 2012, which has the company “optimistic” about the future.

Kia’s 1,140 certified sales were a substantial gain from the 627 CPO sales it had in January 2011.

“We are very pleased with our January results as we begin CY2012. We continue to experience tremendous growth with our Kia CPO program. Each month more and more Kia dealers are taking advantage of our CPO program to bring new customers to the Kia brand,” Carp said.

“We continue to partner with Kia Motors Finance by offering special CPO financing as low as 2.9 percent on Kia CPO units, and our dealers are taking advantage of this relationship. Our fast start for 2012 makes us very optimistic that we are on the right track with our CPO program,” he continued.

Kia’s Korean counterpart, Hyundai, notched its best January ever for CPO. Its certified sales totaled 4,620 units, compared to 2,293 CPO sales a year ago.

Lexus was down 4.3 percent from a year ago, which was its best-ever January. However, the 5,284 CPO sales during the month was good enough to be the brand’s second-best January on record.

Likewise, the Toyota brand narrowly missed its strongest January for CPO.

“The TCUV brand realized positive results for January selling 23,722 units, just 1 percent lower than last year’s best ever January. Total certifications also remain healthy as we enter February,” explained Brad Heagy, retail sales and operations manager for TCUV/TRAC.

BMW moved 5,350 certified vehicles, compared to 7,112 CPO sales in January 2011. Audi’s CPO sales came in at 2,570 units for the month, up from 2,232 CPO sales a year ago.

Over at Volvo, its dealers exceeded expectations for CPO, moving 839 units, said pre-owned carline manager Steve Golow. But January’s sales were off from the 892 CPO units moved a year ago, which Golow said was due to the “decline in supply year-over-year.”

Next up, the Honda brand posted CPO sales of 17,047 units in January (up 5.7 percent) while the Acura brand fell 31.1 percent at 2,926 sales.

Nissan’s CPO sales totaled 7,082 units (up 21.2 percent) and Infiniti posted 935 certified sales (up 14.4 percent).

Subaru’s CPO sales fell 12.4 percent at 1,710 units.

Mazda moved 1,600 certified units in January, compared to 1,407 CPO sales a year ago.

Jaguar achieved CPO sales of 255 units (down 45.9 percent) while Land Rover climbed from 198 certified sales to 471 CPO sales.

Mini posted 144 CPO sales, compared to 143 a year ago. Maserati sold 29 certified units, versus its 21 CPO sales in January 2011.

Mitsubishi sold 28 CPO vehicles, compared to 48 in January 2011. Bentley was estimated to have sold 30 certified vehicles.