Despite declines by both franchised and independent dealers, industry-wide used-vehicle sales nudged higher in May, climbing just under 2 percent from the year-ago period, according to the latest data released by CNW Research this morning. Year-to-date sales through five months are up 4.3 percent.

And within the certified pre-owned slice of the used-car market, several brands have reported solid months already, some hitting their best May CPO sales totals ever.

Mazda, for one, had its strongest CPO May on record with 3,104 sales, which marked a 51.6-percent year-over-year increase and represented the second-best month in the history of the program, trailing only March 2013 (when 3,390 Mazda certified vehicles were sold).

Mazda has notched 14,622 certified sales year-to-date for a 54.6-percent gain.

Hyundai also had its best-ever May with 6,696 certified sales (up 16.9 percent year-over-year). Through five months, it has moved 30,648 CPO units for a 14.1-percent hike.

Volkswagen dealers turned in their best May on record for certified sales, as well as moving 9,069 units for a 19.2-percent hike. This was also the second strongest month of all time for VW CPO.

Certified sales through five months of 2013 have climbed nearly 13 percent at 41,057 units.

Kia sold 2,865 certified vehicles last month for a 87.5-percent hike, with year-to-date sales climbing 78.6 percent at 12,490 units.

Lexus sold 6,709 CPO vehicles last month, compared to 5,901 CPO sales in May 2012. Year-to-date sales stand at 30,122, up from 28,966 in the same period of 2012.

At Ford, the automaker combined to sell 20,708 CPO units for the month, which pushed the year-to-date sum to 89,839 sales.

Ford/Mercury CPO sales came in at 18,750 units for the month, and have reached 81,140 units year-to-date. Lincoln certified sales reached 1,958 units in May. Through five months, it has sold 8,699.

Audi hit 3,475 certified sales last month, compared to 3,346 CPO units moved a year ago. Through May, it has tallied 15,786 certified sales, up from 14,995 in the year-ago time frame.

Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing for more brand-by-brand CPO results as well as overall industry numbers.

Overall Used Market Numbers

Breaking down the nation's used-car market in more detail, CNW found franchised dealers, independent dealers and private-party sellers combined to move 4.39 million used cars in May. This was up 1.9 percent against the 4.31 million used sales in May 2012, according to CNW.

Franchised dealers sold 1.54 million used units last month, versus 1.58 million in May 2012.

Independents sold 1.37 million used vehicles in May, against 1.48 million sales a year ago.
Casual sales climbed from 1.25 million units a year ago to 1.48 million this time around.

So far this year, there have been 15.65 million used sales across all three channels, up from 15.00 million in the first five months of 2012.

Franchised dealers have moved 5.56 million used units, up from 5.27 million a year ago. Independents have increased their sales through May from 4.99 million units to 5.10 million units.

Through May, private-party sales have settled a shade above 5 million units, versus 4.74 million units sold in the year-ago time frame.
 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.