Certified pre-owned vehicle sales at Mercedes-Benz Canada reached their highest-ever quarterly share of the company’s overall used-car sales, the automaker said Thursday.
The company’s pre-owned division moved 3,492 used cars in the first quarter, a 9.2% year-over-year decrease.
Mercedes said 3,240 were CPO vehicles, which translates to a 92.8% penetration rate, an all-time high. It’s also a 6.0-percentage-point increase from a year ago.
Next up, Nissan had 983 certified sales in Canada last month, which marked a 40% month-over-month increase and a 12% year-over-year decline, said Joel Gregory, who heads up the automaker’s CPO program in Canada.
Meantime, Infiniti had its strongest month since October, with 148 CPO sales, Gregory said. This was a 43% improvement from February and a 10% year-over-year decline.
Over at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., it was the second-best CPO March in history, with 1,127 units sold, said Charles Plewes, who is manager of CPO and remarketing national sales.
Never before has certified pre-owned had this great a share of used sales at Mercedes-Benz Canada.
The company said in a sales release it had overall pre-owned sales of 16,795 vehicles last year, which was up 9.8% year-over-year. And a record 89.9% of those used sales were CPO, Mercedes-Benz said. That certified penetration rate was also 3.5 percentage points higher than the rate from the year before, which was the prior record.
CPO penetration at Mercedes-Benz was also above 90% for six straight months (May through October).
And the automaker achieved CPO records for March, May, August, September and October. March was an all-time record, as Mercedes-Benz moved 1,606 certified vehicles.
The company closed the year with 3,513 certified sales in the fourth quarter, representing an 89.2% CPO penetration rate. That beat the year-ago rate by 2.5 percentage points.
Mercedes-Benz wasn’t the only automaker with a record-breaking 2021.
Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. posted a best-ever year, moving 14,013 CPO vehicles, said Charles Plewes, who is manager of CPO and remarketing national sales, in emailed comments.
That beat 2020 figures (the prior all-time high for Hyundai) by 18%.
It was also a record year for dealer participation (80%) in Hyundai’s CPO program, Plewes said.
Hyundai sold 861 certified vehicles in December, which was flat year-over-year. That was driven by challenges stemming from the omicron variant and the overall used-car shortage, he said.
Elsewhere, Porsche Cars Canada also posted an all-time high, selling a record 2,930 CPO vehicles last year, beating the prior-year figure by 15%.
At the halfway point of 2021, the certified pre-owned market in Canada is showing some promise.
Below is a roundup of how various automakers are faring, based on results provided to Auto Remarketing Canada.
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Spring has brought a blooming certified pre-owned vehicle market in Canada. As the CPO market continues to bounce back, automakers were seeing a lot of good signs last month.
Here's how some of the CPO programs are faring, based on sales reported to Auto Remarketing Canada.
In May, Subaru Canada nearly doubled its CPO sales from a year ago, moving 527 units, compared to 274 in May 2020.
Through five months, it has moved 2,025 certified units, up from 1,238 in the same period of 2020.
Next up, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. had its strongest May of all time, selling 1,342 CPO vehicles. This was 16% stronger than the previous May record in 2013.
“Dealers recovered well in May after pivoting to the appointment-only sales in Ontario and Quebec introduced in April due to COVID,” Charles Plewes, manager of CPO & remarketing national sales at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., said in emailed comments. “The used-car market continues to be very strong with the only limiting factor being a shortage of supply.”
Volvo Car Canada also had its best May for CPO, moving 284 certified vehicles. That beat year-ago figures by 13%. Through five months, Volvo’s CPO sales are up 19%.
“Following a record-setting first-quarter performance and an unprecedented performance in April, Volvo Car Canada retailers carried the momentum, helping us record our best month of May on record … Through lockdowns and inventory shortages, the demand for pre-owned vehicles has remained strong,” said Christopher Nabeta, national manager of fleet, CPO and remarketing at Volvo Car Canada, in emailed comments.
“With a resilient mindset supported by aggressive programs, our retailers have done a fantastic job by overachieving during these times, while taking care of their customers as the appetite for the Certified by Volvo product keeps growing,” Nabeta said.
At Nissan, its certified sales in May came in at 1,003 units, compared to 699 a year ago. Through five months, it has moved 4,338 CPO vehicles, compared to 3,903 in the year-ago period.
Infiniti moved 165 certified vehicles in May, beating the year-ago figure of 99 sales. Through May, it has sold 682 certified vehicles, compared to 541 through the same period of 2020.
“May results reflected a steadying of business, fairly consistent with May results,” said Joel Gregory, who heads up CPO for Nissan and Infiniti in Canada, in emailed comments. “Lockdowns in Ontario partially explain why this area of the country didn’t reach its full potential.”
As automakers in Canada begin to share certified pre-owned sales results from April, one trend has emerged: it was a strong month, despite challenges stemming from lockdowns.
For instance, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. had its strongest April of all time for certified pre-owned — which also was its second-best CPO sales tally ever — even amid partial lockdowns in certain provinces.
More specifically, it moved 1,344 certified vehicles last month.
“April felt like a very challenging month with Ontario and Quebec going back into a partial lockdown halfway through the month,” said Charles Plewes, Hyundai Canada’s manager of CPO and remarketing, in emailed comments.
“Despite these challenges, and bolstered by a very strong used-car market, Hyundai’s H-Promise CPO dealers managed to record our best April ever, outpacing a mark set way back in 2013 by 22%,” he said. “With 1,344 sales, April 2021 is also our second-best sales month of all time. With more dealers than ever participating in the program, we plan to continue this success going forward.”
Next up, Nissan moved 1,017 CPO units in Canada last month, up a whopping 558% from the 182 certified sales in April 2020. Certified sales are up 4% year-to-date, with 3,335 units sold.
Infiniti had 169 certified sales for the month, up from 32 in April 2020. Year-to-date sales have climbed 17%, with 517 CPO vehicles sold.
“April reflected a rebound in business, fairly consistent with March results,” said Joel Gregory, who heads up CPO for Nissan and Infiniti in Canada, in emailed comments. “Lockdowns in Ontario and Quebec partially explain why this area of the country didn’t reach its full potential.”
Over at Subaru Canada, CPO sales climbed from 107 a year ago to 429 in the most recent month. Through four months of 2021, Subaru has sold 1,498 certified vehicles, up from 964 a year ago.
This story will be updated as additional results are reported.
Based on the sales reports from automakers, the certified pre-owned market in Canada took a positive turn in March.
For example, Honda Canada said it had its best-ever month for certified pre-owned sales, moving 3,551 units. That was up 114% year-over-year.
Additionally, the company said each of its regions in Canada had record CPO sales, as well.
For the first quarter, Honda moved 7,584 CPO units, beating the year-ago figure by 33% and pacing toward a best-ever year.
Meantime, Acura Canada increased its March certified sales by 132%, selling 598 units. First-quarter CPO sales were at 1,327 for Acura, a 12% hike.
Next up, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. also had its best-ever month for certified sales. It moved 1,263 units, which marked a 62% year-over-year rise. The March sales tally was also up 30% from the prior record (set in March 2013).
Over at Nissan Canada, the Nissan and Infiniti brands both made some headway in March.
Nissan moved 1,024 CPO vehicles, up from 804 in March 2020. This was the brand’s best certified month in the last year.
Infiniti had 165 CPO sales in March, up from 119 a year ago. This was the brand’s strongest certified tally in nine months.
Year-to-date, there have been 2,318 Nissan CPO sales, compared to 3,022 in the first quarter of 2020. Infiniti had 348 certified sales in Q1, down from 410 a year ago.
At Mercedes-Benz Canada, there were 3,336 CPO sales in the first quarter, a 27.1% increase. Total pre-owned sales reached 3,845 certified sales (up 27.4%).
The company capped the quarter with March representing best-ever CPO and total pre-owned sales.
There appeared to be a bit of auto retail challenge around shutdowns in Ontario and Quebec as 2021 gets underway, and that is impacting certified pre-owned sales. Here's a roundup of January CPO sales results shared by automakers, thus far.
At Hyundai, its certified sales fell 25% year-over-year, coming in at 642 for January. Of course, last year marked the strongest ever CPO January for the brand, and despite the decline, “we are still very satisfied with the results considering the headwinds facing the market in January,” said Charles Plewes, who heads up remarketing and CPO for Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., in an email.
“Most of our dealers in Quebec and Ontario were closed to walk-in traffic, which made sales very challenging,” Plewes said.
Nissan and Infiniti also faced similar headwinds in Canada during January.
Nissan had 599 CPO sales, down from 1,023 a year ago. Infiniti CPO sales fell from 151 in January 2020 to 80 last month.
“January was a real tough month,” said Joel Gregory, who heads up CPO for Nissan and Infiniti in Canada, via email.
“Provincial ‘lockdowns’ in the two highest volume provinces (Ontario and Quebec) hampered business making any type of foot traffic into dealerships very challenging,” Gregory said.
Volvo continued to show gains, it said, with 229 CPO sales in Canada, a 6% increase.
In terms of how 2020 wrapped up, Hyundai had its strongest year ever for CPO sales. It moved 11,869 certified vehicles in 2020, up 9% year-over-year. That sum was also 6.5% stronger than the prior record, which was set in 2013.
Hyundai sold 864 CPO vehicles in the final month of the year, its strongest December ever and a 16% year-over-year increase. December was among Hyundai’s eight record months for CPO sales in 2020, Plewes said.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Canada's CPO program notched six record sales months (January, February, June, July, August and September). June was particularly noteworthy, as it marked an all-time high with 1,500 certified sales, the company said.
Mercedes also had another record CPO penetration rate, which reached 86.4% in 2020. That was up 4.1 percentage points from 2019, when the prior record was set.
The pre-owned division overall (including CPO and non-CPO used) had 15,300 sales in 2020 and three record months (Feburary, June and July), a trio that includes the all-time mark (June, with 1,750 pre-owned sales), according to Mercedes.
A few other automakers also shared Canadian CPO sales results with Auto Remarketing Canada.
Subaru moved 4,637 CPO vehicles in 2020, up 13.7% from 2019.
It closed the year with 361 certified sales in December, up from 296 a year earlier.
Next up, Nissan had 11,108 CPO sales for the year, down from 15,434 in 2019. December sales were at 911, up from 879 a year earlier.
Infiniti moved 1,583 CPO units in 2020, compared to 2,036 in 2019. It had 103 CPO sales in December, compared to 152 in December 2019.
Even amid a pandemic, at least one automaker was at a record high for certified pre-owned in 2020.
That would be Hyundai, which had its strongest year ever for CPO sales, said Charles Plewes who is manager of CPO and marketing national sales at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.
It moved 11,869 certified vehicles in 2020, up 9% year-over-year. That sum was also 6.5% stronger than the prior record, which was set in 2013.
Hyundai sold 864 CPO vehicles last month, its strongest December ever and a 16% year-over-year increase. December was among Hyundai’s eight record months for CPO sales in 2020, Plewes said.
“Overall, 2020 was an outstanding year for Hyundai Canada’s H-Promise CPO program,” Plewes said. “Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyundai dealers displayed an impressive recovery from the second quarter dealer closures to achieve our best sales year in the history of the program.
“The only headwind to continued sales growth is a general shortage (of) used vehicles, which is a phenomenon in the overall market and not unique to Hyundai,” he said.
A few other automakers also shared Canadian CPO sales results with Auto Remarketing Canada.
Subaru moved 4,637 CPO vehicles in 2020, up 13.7% from 2019.
It closed the year with 361 certified sales in December, up from 296 a year earlier.
Next up, Nissan had 11,108 CPO sales for the year, down from 15,434 in 2019. December sales were at 911, up from 879 a year earlier.
Infiniti moved 1,583 CPO units in 2020, compared to 2,036 in 2019. It had 103 CPO sales in December, compared to 152 in December 2019.
It now literally can be music to the ears of Mazda dealers who retail certified pre-owned vehicles equipped with satellite radio.
On Monday, SiriusXM Canada announced today a multi-year agreement with Mazda Canada to extend the ongoing relationship between the two companies and continue offering Mazda customers with equipped vehicles added value to complement their driving experience.
The companies said Mazda customers will receive a complimentary three-month SiriusXM All Access trial subscription — SiriusXM’s most expansive programming package which includes access to the SiriusXM mobile app — with the purchase of a new or certified pre-owned vehicle.
The companies added that customers purchasing new, navigation-equipped Mazda vehicles will also receive a complimentary five-year subscription to SiriusXM Traffic Plus and Travel Link.
SiriusXM Traffic can help drivers avoid congestion before they reach it with detailed information on traffic speed, accidents, construction, road closures and more.
Meanwhile, SiriusXM Travel Link can deliver timely and helpful information to drivers and passengers including weather, fuel prices, available parking, sports scores, movie listings and stock prices.
“We are very pleased to extend our agreement with a trusted partner like SiriusXM and continue offering our customers a superior driving experience with even more benefits,” Mazda Canada director of business strategy Junichi Imai said in a news release.
“We feel confident that complimentary access to their comprehensive audio entertainment and infotainment services enhances the value we bring to our drivers,” Imai continued.
SiriusXM All Access is SiriusXM’s most extensive offering, featuring Howard Stern, and including every NFL, MLB, and NBA game, every NASCAR race, plus NHL games, PGA TOUR coverage and live college sports, as well as SiriusXM’s wide variety of commercial-free music, plus talk programming, comedy and several exclusive online-only channels.
All-Access subscribers also get access to SiriusXM programming outside the vehicle on the SiriusXM app and online.
It’s all now available to buyers who take delivery of those Mazda CPO units equipped with satellite radio.
“We’ve been a proud partner with Mazda for many years and are excited to continue that relationship,” said Rob Keen, vice president of OEM partnerships and connected services at SiriusXM Canada.
“Bringing their customers the best in commercial-free music, plus sports, talk and news, as well as SiriusXM Traffic and Travel Link services amplifies the already exceptional experience behind the wheel of a Mazda,” Keen went on to say.
Go to siriusxm.ca for more information.
Here’s a rundown of how certified pre-owned sales have fared in Canada, based on automakers sharing results with Auto Remarketing Canada.
Subaru Canada moved 480 certified units in November, compared to 362 a year ago. That put the year-to-date tally at 4,276, a 13.1% year-over-year increase.
At Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., there were 976 CPO sales last month, down slightly a year ago, which was the best November ever with 984 sales.
“Holding the program back in November was a shortage of pre-owned Hyundais at our dealers after five months of record sales,” said Charles Plewes, who heads up CPO and remarketing for Hyundai, via email. “Dealer participation is also at a high of 78%.”
Next up, Nissan had 915 CPO sales in Canada during November, down from 1,445 a year ago. Through November, year-to-date sales are at 10,197 units, down from 14,555 in the same period of 2019.
Infiniti sold 121 certified vehicles for the month, down from 180 in November in 2019. Year-to-date sales are at 1,480, compared to 1,884 in the year-ago time frame.
For more insights into the Canadian retail used-car business, see the podcast below with Sam LaPointe, who is director of sales in Canada at CarGurus.
LaPointe discusses some of the challenges and opportunities facing car dealers in Canada, the country's used-car market, digital retail in Canada and more.
