CARY, N.C. -

March was the strongest certified pre-owned month ever, and year-to-date sales mark the best quarter in the history of the market, according to Autodata Corp. Not to mention, the number of brands hitting best-ever sales was in the double digits.

Here’s a breakdown of how individual brands fared in March, based on data from Autodata and the automakers themselves.

Starting with the Big 3, combined sales for all CPO brands at Ford came in at 19,307 units in March, up 26.6 percent from a year ago. First-quarter sales reached 50,279 (up 31.5 percent).

By division, there were 17,465 Ford/Mercury CPO sales in March and 45,415 year-to-date. For Lincoln, CPO sales hit 1,842 units for March and 4,864 units for the first quarter.

The combined certified sales in March for the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands at General Motors, jumped nearly 12 percent year-over-year.

Specifically, they combined to move 33,047 CPO units, which was their best March sales total in five years. First-quarter CPO sales for these brands reached 86,525 units, up 10.6 percent from the same period of 2012.

At Chrysler, their brands notched 10,884 certified sales last month (down 3.2 percent), with year-to-date sales at 29,147 units (down 3.7 percent).

By brand, the Chrysler division sold 2,399 CPO units last month (up 2 percent), the Dodge brand moved 5,101 certified cars and Jeep CPO sales were at 3,384 units (down 5.3 percent).  Not included in the overall total, Fiat had 33 certified sales last month.

Moving along, Kia reported 2,800 certified sales last month, which marked a 61.4-percent hike. Through three months, it has sold 7,081 units, marking a 68.4-percent rise.

Meanwhile, Mazda moved 3,390 units for close to a 56-percent year-over-year improvement. This pushed year-to-date sales to 8,588 units, which is a 52.1-percent hike from the year-ago period.

Hyundai sold 6,715 CPO units, which was a 1.3-percent upswing from March 2012. Through three months, it has sold 17,734 CPO vehicles for a 7.9-percent gain.

At Volkswagen, the company moved 9,126 CPO rides last month, compared to 8,334 CPO sales in March 2012. 

Through three months, its certified sales have climbed 11.6 percent at 23,751 units

Audi sold 3,425 certified units in March, versus 3,351 in the same period a year ago. Its year-to-date sales stand at 9,054, up from 8,786 certified sales in the first quarter of 2012.

Toyota sold 34,538 CPO cars last month (up 11.4 percent) and reached 89,081 certified sales for the quarter (up 8.2 percent).

Lexus moved 6,630 certified vehicles in March, compared to 6,605 in March 2012. First-quarter CPO sales reached 17,280 vehicles, compared to 17,803 in the year-ago period.

Volvo moved 1,027 CPO units for the month, versus 1,046 a year ago. Through March, it has sold 2,825 units, relatively even with the year-ago period.

At Honda, its Acura brand moved 3,707 CPO vehicles for the month (down 9.4 percent) and 9,723 units for the quarter (down 5.9 percent). The Honda division posted 22,331 certified sales (down 5 percent) for March and reached 58,066 CPO sales for the quarter (down 3.2 percent).

Next up, the Nissan brand hit 10,684 certified sales in March (up 6.6 percent) and reached 27,433 CPO sales for the quarter (up 9.7 percent). For Infiniti, it was 1,045 sales for the month (down 24 percent) and 2,730 sales for the quarter (down 17.7 percent).

Subaru hit 2,800 certified sales during the month (up 28.3 percent) and pulled in 7,565 CPO sales for the quarter (up 34.8 percent).

BMW’s CPO sales reached 7,501 units last month (up 5.9 percent) and first-quarter sales climbed 4.5 percent at 19,546.

Mercedes-Benz moved 8,665 CPO vehicles for the month (up 23.9 percent) and 24,353 units for the quarter (up 22.2 percent).

Elsewhere, Mini moved 523 CPO vehicles in March, up from 261 a year ago. Porsche’s certified sales totaled 811 (down 5.9 percent).

There were 324 Jaguar certified sales (up 8 percent) and 637 Land Rover CPO sales (up 7.2 percent).  Mitsubishi sold 36 CPO units in March, down from 60 in March 2012. There were five CPO sales for smart and 43 for Maserati (up 4.9 percent).

Bentley was estimated to have sold 30 certified vehicles in March.

To see how the overall CPO market fared last month and in the first quarter, check out our story that ran in Auto Remarketing Today.

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.