At Least 4 Brands Hit Best-Ever Annual CPO Sums

Fresh off a remarkable 2012 in the certified pre-owned market, four brands have confirmed to Auto Remarketing, as of press time, that they achieved record full-year certified pre-owned sales.

According to their respective CPO leaders, 2012 was the best year ever for certified at Volkswagen and for American Honda’s flagship brand, and the year was also the all-time high mark for CPO at both Hyundai and Kia.
 
Volkswagen’s 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.

Meanwhile, 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 Toyota, its certified total for the year was at 330,814 sales, compared to 331,805 CPO sales a year ago. December CPO sales came in at 28,334 vehicles, versus 29,081 in December 2011.