Wholesale vehicle sales lost a touch of momentum in October as the growth rate slowed. But sales are still entering the final turn of 2025 on a high note.

According to AuctionNet data from the National Auto Auction Association, there have been 6 million vehicles sold at auction through 10 months, which beats year-ago figures by 5%.

October sales showed a 0.4% year-over-year increase, while softening 2% month-over-month when adjusting for selling days, NAAA said.

Unadjusted, though, October auction sales were the second-strongest month of the year, behind April.

This followed a robust close to the third quarter, as auction sales climbed 5.5% year-over-year in September and were up 6% for Q3. Year-to-date sales were up close to 6%, as well, at the end of Q3, the association said.

Auction sales for September were off 1.6% from August, which was the first month-over-month dip since June, NAAA said.

As far as October auction sales, commercial consignment led the way, climbing close to 7% year-over-year. However, commercial sales dropped 2.5% month-over-month. But through 10 months, they have climbed 9.5%, selling-day adjusted, NAAA said.

Meanwhile, dealer sales fell 3% year-over-year in October and were off 2.6% month-over-month, but have risen more than 4% year-to-date, when adjusting for selling days.

Breaking down auction sales by age group, there had been substantial growth in sales of vehicles up to 2 years old. From March through September, their sales had climbed an average of 25% year-over-year each month, selling-day adjusted, but in October their sales rose just 11%, NAAA said.

Nearly three-quarters of this age group’s sales are commercial volumes, the association said.

“Notably, manufacturer sales, which include off-rental units repurchased by the OEM (i.e., program vehicles), have grown by more than 80% year-to-date compared to last year,” NAAA vice president of Auction Data Solutions/AuctionNet Larry Dixon wrote in the report. “This follows an extended period in which OEM off-rental repurchases were far more the exception than the ‘risk’ alternative rule.”

There was a 25% drop in 3-year-old vehicle sales, which were down 4% from September. Through October, they have declined 13% year-to-date.

Also showing a significant drop were 4- to 5-year-old vehicles, as their sales have declined 9% year-to-date and fell 11% year-over-year in October.

Looking at older units, vehicles age 7 and older were down 2% month-over-month, selling day adjusted, but rose 6.5% year-over-year in October,

Dixon notes that, “commercial sales for the group were up more than 20% on a prior-year basis, which pushed the average rate of growth for the group over the past four months to nearly 22%.

“The ongoing rise in older units, particularly commercial units, reflects the heightened delinquency and default environment affecting the subprime community,” he said.

Looking at the vehicle segments, compact car volumes were down 3.5% year-over-year in October, selling day adjusted, while compact crossovers/SUVs were up 7.5% and compact luxury crossover/SUV sales rose 8.0%.

There was 4.3% growth in full-size pickup sales during October, while luxury car volumes fell 2% and midsize car volumes softened 5.7%.

Midsize crossover/SUV sales rose 3.1% in October, with midsize luxury crossover/SUV volume rising 8.4%.

Electric vehicle sales at auction were up 46.4% year-over-year in October and have already well exceed full-year 2024 volumes, NAAA said.

After 15,401 sales in October, there have now been more than 134,000 EVs sold at auction this year, beating full-year 2024 numbers by 23%. NAAA did note one challenge: the average retention of a 3-year-old EV was 35.6% in October, down 1.6 percentage points from September.

Note: This is part of a monthly series in which Auto Remarketing shares AuctionNet data and commentary provided by the National Auto Auction Association.

As noted by the organization, more than 260 NAAA member auctions power AuctionNet, making it the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S. Unless otherwise noted, auction sales figures are based on total reporting auctions, the number and composition of which may vary over time.  Data below courtesy of AuctionNet/NAAA

 

AuctionNet® Wholesale Auction Results
October-25
Total Unit Sales
Select Segments Oct-24 Oct-25 % Change (selling day adjusted)
Compact Car 60,592 58,479 -3.5%
Compact Crossover/SUV 89,109 95,773 7.5%
Compact Luxury Crossover/SUV 14,974 16,179 8.0%
Full-Size Pickup 79,473 82,918 4.3%
Luxury Car 33,849 33,173 -2.0%
Mid-Size Car 70,801 66,742 -5.7%
Mid-Size Crossover/SUV 95,293 98,251 3.1%
Mid-Size Luxury Crossover/SUV 22,709 24,621 8.4%
Electric Vehicles 10,518 15,401 46.4%
Source:  AuctionNet®. Segmentation provided by Black Book.