WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -

Certified pre-owned sales picked up right where they left off — and actually got stronger. Following the fourth consecutive best-ever year for the market, CPO sales climbed more than 17 percent in January, as dealers moved nearly 195,000 units, according to Autodata Corp.

The firm said in its sales data released Wednesday that, specifically, January finished with 194,792 CPO sales, a 17.1-percent increase over January 2014.

The daily selling rate was 7,492, which beat year-ago numbers by 12.6 percent.

The Big 3 sold 72,841 certified vehicles for the month (up 22.1 percent), while Asian brands moved 87,554 CPO units (up 10.8 percent) and European brands had 34,397 CPO sales (up 24.6 percent).