WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -

The certified pre-owned market reached 1.8 million annual sales for the first time in history and hit a best-ever mark for the second straight year, according to Autodata Corp.

In 2012, there were 1.83 million CPO sales, which was an improvement of 5.3 percent — or more than 92,000 units — over the full-year sum for 2011, which had been the best-ever year for certified sales.

What’s more, 10 brands achieved their strongest years ever for certified sales.

Among those record-breakers cited by Autodata were Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mini, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru and Volkswagen.

Kia and Maserati closed the year with their best months ever for CPO, while several others had their strongest Decembers on record. Overall, the final three months of 2012 represented the best fourth quarter ever, with 451,703 CPO units sold, Autodata said. This was a 3.9-percent hike from the prior-year period.

In December, automakers moved 156,352 CPO vehicles, which was down 0.7 percent from December 2011.

More on Record-Breakers

Looking at some of the brands achieving all-time records in more detail, Volkswagen said its best-ever year included 86,188 certified sales, which marked an 18.1-percent year-over-year uptick. The company also achieved its strongest December ever with 7,443 CPO units sold (up 21.2 percent).

Over at American Honda, Brian Butts said the Honda division’s record year had a final tally of 239,148 CPO units sold, which was a 4.3-percent year-over-year gain. What’s more, Butts said the sum was 20 percent stronger than the company’s initial objective.

“The slow economy and reduced SAAR in 2009 did not affect the Honda division the way Acura was affected. As a result, our dealers were able to source and certify used vehicles, making for a record breaking year. With a 20-plus percent increase in lease maturities in 2013, we are poised to set another record in 2013,” Butts said.

As for the company’s Acura brand, the 43,874 certified vehicles sold last year was its third highest in history and beat the target mark by 7 percent.

“With new-vehicle sales and subsequent leases decreasing in 2009, it reduced the overall number of vehicles coming off-lease that were available for potential ACPV sales,” Butts added. “However, we see a sizeable uptick in off-lease maturities for 2013. So, we have an opportunity to exceed our 2012 sales results.”

Next up, Hyundai increased its full-year sales by 43.3 percent, selling 70,049 CPO units in 2012 and reaching its best-ever year. What’s more, the brand’s certified sales in the final month of the year (6,239) marked its best December on record and a 12.3-percent hike from December 2011.

Kia sold 20,076 certified units in its record year nearly doubling its 2011 total. It moved 2,029 CPO vehicles in December for a 58.6-percent year-over-year gain. Nissan sold 106,070 certified vehicles in 2012 for a 15.6-percent hike.

Mazda’s best-ever year included 27,239 certified sales, which also marked a 43.5-percent year-over-year improvement.

Meanwhile, Porsche pulled in 9,512 certified sales for the year, a 14-percent improvement.

“The Porsche certified pre-owned program continues to offer the opportunity for customers to experience a Porsche at many different price points,” the company said in a statement.

Subaru’s annual CPO sales of 25,543 units was a 7.3-percent lift.

Mini moved 3,392 units for an all-time record and a 61.2-percent improvement from the previous year. Maserati, another record-breaker, had 408 CPO sales, which was 16.2 percent higher than 2011.

Others Post Strong Certified Results

Continuing down the line, Ford had its best CPO year since 2006 and its second strongest of all time. Its brands combined to move 172,538 certified units, up from 130,333 in 2011.

The Lincoln brand achieved an all-time record for full-year certified sales, beating the old record (which was set in 2002) by nearly 1,600 units. Specifically, Lincoln moved 19,437 certified units, up from 15,782 CPO units moved in 2011 and 17,839 a decade ago.

The 153,146 certified sales from Ford/Mercury was the strongest annual sum in six years and a 33.7-percent year-over-year hike.

“Our Ford and Lincoln dealers embraced the new 2012 programs and delivered outstanding results,” said Todd Fites, the automaker’s national CPO sales manager. “Our expectations in 2013 are to continue positive year-over-year sales growth as we continue to execute our plan to grow our certified pre-owned share to new-vehicle levels.”

At General Motors, sales of certified Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn reached 275,203 units for the year, which was a 3.8-percent decrease.

There were 91 CPO Hummers sold (down 84.4 percent) and 16,609 Cadillac CPO units sold (down 28.2 percent).

As for Chrysler, its brands combined to move 112,927 certified vehicles last year, which was off 1.7 percent. Its top seller was the Dodge brand, which moved 53,678 CPO units (up 19.7 percent), followed by Jeep, which sold 36,793 certified vehicles (down 9.1 percent).

There were 22,456 Chrysler brand certified vehicles sold, which was off 24 percent from the 2011 sum.

For Fiat, which is not included in the above totals, CPO sales for the year reached 127 units.

At Toyota, its certified total for the year was at 330,814 sales, compared to 331,805 CPO sales a year earlier.

“In 2011, Toyota experienced a significant loss in production capability and new-vehicle inventory due to the Japan earthquake and tsunami,” said Mia Phillips, retail sales and operations manager at TCUV. “As a result, the Toyota Certified Used Vehicle program became a viable alternative for both new- and used-vehicle intenders and, therefore, experienced tremendous growth and a record sales year.

“With our new-vehicle inventory returning to normal levels in 2012, we are very pleased that TCUV sales kept pace with last year’s result,” she continued. “We expect 2013 to be another successful year for our TCUV dealers as Toyota off-lease volume is expected to increase 29.5 percent. These vehicles will be driven to back to our dealers which will result in prime certified used-vehicle inventory and, ultimately, incremental CPO sales.”

Lexus moved 68,514 certified vehicles in 2012, compared to 70,215 CPO sales a year earlier. Certified sales for the Infiniti brand came in at 11,782 units for the year (down 11.2 percent).

Yearly certified sales for BMW reached 75,040 units, compared to 84,327 CPO sales in 2011. BMW capped the year with 6,766 certified sales in December, down from 7,693 CPO units moved in the same month a year earlier.

Mercedes-Benz notched 80,291 certified sales for the year, which was a 7.7-percent hike. Volvo dealers moved 11,782 certified vehicles in 2012 (down from 12,898 in 2011).

Audi sold 36,469 CPO vehicles in 2012, down from 37,259 in 2011. Jaguar’s 2012 certified sales reached 3,301 units (down 16.2 percent) while Land Rover climbed 96 percent with 6,588 CPO sales. Smart’s CPO sales were at 89 units.

Mitsubishi had 631 certified sales last year (up 16.9 percent). Bentley was estimated to have sold 360.