A month after showing the first year-over-year decline in auction sales volumes since December 2022, the wholesale vehicle market showed some strength in July, albeit with some sales disparity among segments and vehicle age groups.

Through seven months of 2025, year-to-date wholesale sales at auction are up a little more than 6% year-over-year (selling-day adjusted), according to the latest AuctionNet data from the National Auto Auction Association.

In July, auction sales climbed 9% both year-over-year and month-over-month, NAAA said. Sales from commercial consignors jumped 12% year-over-year, with dealer sales rising 9%.

“July is typically a strong month for auction sales and this year was little different, as the month’s year-over-year improvement was the third highest so far this year,” NAAA vice president Larry Dixon wrote in analysis accompanying the AuctionNet data.

Breaking it down by age group, late-model vehicle sales showed some divergence: sales of 3-year-old vehicles fell 17% year-over-year in July, but there was a 21% spike in sales of vehicles up to 2 years old, NAAA said.

Meanwhile, there was close to a 25% year-over-year spike in commercial sales of vehicles 7 years and older during July, with year-to-date sales up 16%, suggesting stronger repossession volumes, the trade group said.

By vehicle category, Dixon noted in the report: “In something of a rare occurrence, compact and mid-size car sales moved higher, improving by 2% versus July 2024, while luxury car sales increased by nearly 5%. Pickup and utility auction sales were up a combined 16%.”

The standout among trucks and SUVs was the compact luxury crossover/SUV, where sales increased 19.1%.

July was also a standout month for electric vehicles sales at auction. There were 14,650 EV sales at auction, which beat year-ago figures by 41.9% and represented the second strongest month of all time, NAAA said.

The record was set in April, when 15,600 EVs were sold at auction.