WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -

Manheim’s Tom Webb said during a press conference at the NADA Convention & Expo last month that he “can pretty much guarantee that CPO sales are going to hit a record again this year.”

Well, they’re certainly off to a good start.

Fresh off the third straight record year for certified pre-owned sales, last month ended up being the best January ever for the CPO business, according to Autodata Corp.

Reporting sales numbers this morning, Autodata said dealers moved 166,311 certified vehicles in January for a 10.5-percent year-over-year gain.

This followed record-breaking sales for full-year 2013, as the industry reached 2.11 million CPO sales.

Manheim’s 2014 Used Car Market Report explores the growth potential of certified in more detail, suggesting the surge in off-lease supply in 2014 and coming years means more landmark CPO years are “inevitable.”

Manheim’s report also posed this question: does the CPO market have a “natural limit” as to how high sales can climb?

“After all, the ratio of CPO sales to the number of new vehicles sold in the prior three years rose from 1 percent in 2000 to more than 5 percent in 2013. Does that suggest that the supply of potential CPO units is becoming stretched? Not at all,” the report reads.

“Note that several manufacturers that have long-established CPO programs, high lease rates, and remarketing processes that keep a large share of returning vehicles within their dealer network often have CPO-to-prior sales ratios in the double digits,” it continued.

“This means that the CPO market has the potential to grow to more than 4 million units per year, in short order. It is only a matter of how much marketing muscle the manufacturers want to put behind the programs — and, of course, the dealer’s ability to continue to earn good profits on the sales.”