WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -

Summer began its descent with a banner month for certified pre-owned sales. It was the strongest August ever for the CPO market, according to Autodata Corp., and a quartet of brands posted their best-ever certified figures.

Specifically, there were 160,206 CPO sales during the month, which marked a 9.6-percent year-over-year increase and a 6.1-percent jump from July, said Autodata. The firm noted that Kia, Mazda, Mini and Subaru each had their best month of all time for CPO sales (August or otherwise).

The first eight months of the year brought in 1.23 million certified sales, a 5.4-percent increase from the same period of 2011.

As far as the record-breakers, Mazda pulled in 2,615 certified sales during its best-ever month, versus 1,663 CPO sales a year ago. Its year-to-date certified sum stands at 16,461 units, versus 12,217 sales through August 2011.

Kia, meanwhile, sold 1,824 CPO units, compared to 787 in August 2011, and pushed its year-to-date total to 12,216 sales, up from 5,466 in the same period of last year.

Mini moved 349 certified vehicles, compared to 187 last August. Its year-to-date tally is at 2,097 CPO sales, up 49 percent.

Subaru’s record month included 2,270 certified sales, which was 19.3 percent stronger than the year-ago sum. Through August, it has moved 16,045 certified units for a 0.5-percent gain.

Beyond the all-time record-breakers, a few automakers achieved their strongest August sales totals on record.

Volkswagen, for instance, moved 7,557 units during the month. This marked nearly an 18-percent year-over-year gain and was also the third-best month of all time for the brand, says Scott Weitzman, the general manager of used-vehicle operations at Volkswagen of America.

This pushed year-to-date CPO sales to 57,726 units, up 14.7 percent from the same period of 2011.
Weitzman said the automaker was “pleasantly surprised with our performance in August,” and shared how the brand’s lease pull-ahead program benefitted dealers.

“Our dealers were able to maintain a consistent supply of late-model vehicles with help from an aggressive lease pull-ahead program that ran over the past three months,” he noted. “VW dealers pulled ahead more than 2,000 units that were scheduled for maturity in the second quarter of 2013.”

Hyundai also reached its best August ever for CPO sales, moving 6,362 units (up from 4,614 certified sales in August 2011). This was the brand's second-strongest month on record in the certified market.

Year-to-date certified sales are at 45,433 units, compared to 28,534 sales in the same period a year ago.
Likewise, Toyota had a best-ever August, moving 28,768 certified vehicles (up 1.5 percent year-over-year). Through eight months, it sold 220, 031 CPO vehicles, down 2.1 percent from the same period of 2011.

Moving along to other automakers, the Big 3 brands, in particular, combined to sell 49,813 CPO units in August, marking a 7.3-percent increase.

At Ford, the Ford/Mercury CPO sum for the month came in at 13,645 units, up significantly from the 9,467 certified vehicles sold in August 2011. Through August, there were 99,078 Ford/Mercury CPO vehicles sold, compared to 76,302 in the same period of 2011.

Lincoln’s certified sales climbed from 1,475 in August 2011 to 1,638 units sold last month. Year-to-date sales stand at 13,259 units, versus 9,635 CPO sales in eight months of 2011.

“The Ford and Lincoln CPO Programs had another outstanding sales month in August with a combined 15,283 sales,” said Todd Fites, the automaker’s national CPO sales manager.

“Dealer participation continues to improve in 2012 as more Ford and Lincoln dealers realize the value that certified pre-owned vehicles offer to consumers,” he continued. “We continue to focus on our overall goal of growing Ford and Lincoln CPO market share to a level that is equal to our new vehicle share.” 

At General Motors, CPO sales were broken down as follows: the Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn brands combined to move 23,305 units in July, which was down 4.9 percent year-over-year.

These same brands moved 188,469 units through the first eight months of 2012, which marks a 1.1-percent decrease.

There were 10 CPO Hummers sold (down from 31 in August 2011) and 1,284 certified Cadillacs sold (down 30.4 percent). Year-to-date certified sales for Cadillac are at 11,190 (down 30.3 percent), with Hummer coming in at 79 CPO sales, down from 476.

At Chrysler, its brands combined to sell 9,931 certified vehicles in August (excluding the Fiat brand), which was a 9-percent uptick from a year ago. Year-to-date sales have reached 77,325 units for a 1.4-percent lift.

By individual division, there were 4,680 Dodge units sold in August (up 26.1 percent), 1,854 Chrysler vehicles sold (down 11.4 percent) and 3,397 Jeep sales (up 2.8 percent).

There were 13 Fiat CPO sales in August, putting its yearly total at 67.

Next up, there were 21,289 Honda CPO vehicles sold in August (up 11 percent), and Acura certified sales reached 3,793 units (up 0.5 percent). Through August, the Honda brand moved 165,006 CPO units (up 6.7 percent) year-to-date, and the Acura brand hit 29,537 certified sales (down 11.7 percent).

posted 9,511 certified sales in August (up 15.1 percent), and Infiniti totaled 808 certified sales (down 32.3 percent). In eight months of 2012, Nissan’s CPO sales reached 70,720 vehicles (up 20.7 percent), and Infiniti’s have reached 8,286 (down 3.9 percent).

There were 5,473 Lexus certified units sold during the month — an 0.8 percent gain — which put year-to-date numbers at 45,692 sales (down 2.9 percent).

Audi sold 3,366 CPO vehicles last month, compared to 3,170 in August 2011. Through August, its dealers have posted 24,841 certified sales, down from 25,518 through August 2012.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz notched 6,905 certified sales last month for a 17-percent year-over-year gain, putting its year-to-date total at 52,821 CPO sales (up 2.3 percent).

BMW reached 6,542 certified sales in August, which was essentially even with a year ago. Through August, it has reported 49,745 CPO sales (down 14.4 percent).

Volvo sold 1,094 certified vehicles in August, down from 1,118 in the same period of 2011. Year-to-date, it has moved 7,988 CPO units, compared to 8,639 in the year-ago period.

Porsche reported that there were 870 Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales in August, up 18 percent year-over-year. Through eight months, it has moved 6,500 CPO units.

Jaguar sold 287 certified units in August (down 7.1 percent) and has moved 2,228 so far this year (down 18.1 percent). Land Rover’s CPO sales hit 579 vehicles for the month (up from 86 in August 2011), with year-to-date sales reaching 4,362 (up from 1,315 sales).

Mitsubishi was estimated to have sold 40 CPO rides, while Bentley was estimated to have sold 30.