The future looks plentiful for both dealer and commercial consignment volumes at auction, according to the latest Economy and Auction Industry Report from the National Auto Auction Association.

Dealer consignment is up 1.4 percent year-to-date through three quarters, with commercial volume up a much heartier 7.0 percent, according to NADA AuctionNet data cited in the report.

In the third quarter alone, commercial consignment was up 8.1 percent year-over-year, with dealer consignment up 0.7 percent. Overall volume was up 4 percent in Q3.

“Auction volume growth in 2014 has been around 4 percent all year as strong commercial consignment has offset a slowdown in dealer consignment growth,” NAAA's Ira Silver said in the report. “We expect that auction volume will be up by 4 percent to 5 percent this year for the third annual increase in a row.”

And based on NAAA’s forecast, the annual gains may not stop at three.

The trend lines in the new-car market in recent years are likely to show separate and positive impacts in both dealer and commercial consignment down the road, NAAA said.

“Going forward we anticipate that increasing new- car sales and trade-ins will drive growth in dealer consignment up somewhat from recent levels,” Silver said. |

“Past growth in new-vehicles sales into leasing and fleets will support good gains in commercial consignment for the next couple of years as those vehicles make their way into the auction lanes,” he added.