BANDON, Ore. -

As the industry appeared to regroup after last month’s federal government shutdown threw a wrench into the mix, CNW Research reported that October’s used-vehicle retail sales total rose above some analysts’ projections.

CNW said October’s tally came in at 3.152 million units, representing a combination of sales at franchised and independent dealerships as well as private-party transactions. President Art Spinella indicated the figure also represented 3.63 percent lift above the used-vehicle sales performance during October of last year.

Spinella described the sales total as “somewhat weaker than it should have been but ahead of projections.

“Used-car sales in October surged at the end of the month, rebounding from a partial government shutdown that caused some shoppers to put off their purchase decisions,” he continued. “The end of the shutdown early in the month resulted in shoppers returning in steady numbers.”

CNW discovered franchised dealers made headway in both used sales (up 2.71 percent) and transaction prices (up 8.1 percent).

“Most of the gain was on the back of CPO units,” Spinella said.

Auto Remarketing will publish a full breakdown of October’s CPO sales numbers as soon as the information from Autodata Corp. becomes available later this week.

Meanwhile, CNW noted the October fortunes weren’t as favorable for independent stores. Spinella said independent dealers saw their share decline 3.12 percent and transaction prices slip 1.45 percent compared to the same month last year.

What trumped the performance of both franchised and independent stores was the activity generated through private-party sales. CNW determined these sales jumped more than 10 percent versus a year ago with share increasing to nearly 25 percent.

Based on transaction prices, CNW calculated the industry sold $29.9 billion worth of used vehicles, up 8.21 percent year-over-year.

“All channels, however, suffered a loss in the volume of shoppers. In all, the number of shoppers to those who actually purchased a vehicle fell 10.9 percent to 2.6 percent,” said Spinella, who broke down the drop-offs this way:

—Franchised dealerships: down nearly 13.7 percent
—Independent dealerships: down 16 percent
—Private party: down 19.5 percent

In other used-vehicle metrics from the month that CNW shared, the firm found that trucks regained share of used sales across all channels, climbing 9.26 percent while cars fell 1.5 percent.

Spinella also touched on a couple other interesting trends CNW spotted in October.

“Shoppers are going farther afield to find the used car they want with nearly a quarter saying they purchased a vehicle outside of their local marketing area,” he said. “In many cases these shoppers were looking for best financing dealers and finding them with a 12.7 percent increase in the number who actually financed their used-vehicle acquisition.

“The Internet in all forms from mobile to tablet to desktop generated a massive increase in generating floor traffic,” Spinella went on to say. “More than 3.2 million consumers used the Internet to shop for a used car or truck, up 129.4 percent increase from a year ago’s 1.4 million.

Finally, CNW noticed that pre-approved loans edge up slightly in October, ticking 1.01 percent higher versus the same month last year.

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