TORONTO -

As the official first day of spring passed in March, automakers were rolling out certified pre-owned units to customers at an increasing rate, with many automakers notching double-digit sales increases.

One European brand even achieved its best first-quarter certified sales numbers ever.

Over at Audi, Jonathan Breton, manager of certified pre-owned and corporate sales, told Auto Remarketing Canada that year- to-date ( through the end of March) “we achieved our best quarter ever with 1,000 CPO sales, representing an 8-percent increase over the 926 units sold in 2012.”

As for the monthly sales total in March, the luxury automaker sold 374 CPO units, exactly even with  the sum from March2012.

And over at Volkswagen Canada, the automaker notched its best March ever.

Specifically, it sold 1,169 CPO units for the month, up 7.4 percent from the same period of 2012.

“We are off to a fantastic start, up 16 percent year-over-year in the first quarter following our best March ever with a total of 1,169 units sold,” said Kelly Stewart, allocation and distribution specialist at VW Canada.

Through the end of March, VW had sold 3,228 CPO units year-to-date, up from 2,782 sales during the same period of 2012.

Volvo Canada  reported its CPO numbers, as well, notching 119 sales in March, up from 103 sold during March of 2012. 

“March saw yet another double-digit increase in certified pre-owned sales for Volvo Cars of Canada. Premium car buyers continue to be attracted to this industry-leading offer, giving them a previously enjoyed vehicle with the peace of mind that comes with purchasing a new model,” said Emanuel Lichtinshtein, national fleet sales, CPO and remarketing manager at Volvo Cars of Canada Corp.

Wrapping up the European brands, the Mercedes-Benz Canada Pre-Owned division reported 1,269 vehicles sold in March. As of the end of March, a total of 2,853 Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned units had been delivered so far in 2013.

For Mazda Canada, Bryan Leaitch, manager of certified pre-owned, reported the automaker sold 494 CPO units this past month, up from 270 in March of 2012.

Leaitch contributed this considerable increase to a few different factors:  

•    An increase in active dealers on the program
•    An increase in CPO penetration per active dealer
•    Dealership training initiatives
•    Dealer incentives
•    Increased fixed marketing

Lastly, Toyota sold 2,007 certified vehicles in March, down from 2,562 a year ago. The OEM was also a bit down for year-to-date sales, as well.

By the end of March, the automaker had sold 4,976 CPO units, down from 5,919 sold during the same period last year.

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