ATLANTA — Certified pre-owned and used models have picked up considerable retail price momentum. That's according to AutoTrader.com's Trend Engine Report for May, which tracked and revealed price movements that occurred in April.

The vehicle whose CPO price jumped the most was for the Ford F-150. Year-over-year price comparisons for this truck are up 35.7 percent.

Another vehicle from the same automaker posted a similar price gain in AutoTrader.com's analysis. Prices for CPO models of the Ford Fusion spiked 31.5 percent last month as compared to April of last year.

While the price climb for the F-150 was slightly higher, it is CPO demand for the Fusion that caught the attention of site analysts more. They projected that inventories of CPO Ford Fusions may get exceptionally tight in the near future. The site based that prediction on views of the vehicle that skyrocketed 109 percent last month with AutoTrader.com's CPO inventory listings.

Breaking down the trend, the site noted the Fusion was 66th-most-viewed CPO vehicle on AutoTrader.com in April of last year. The Fusion rose to No. 45 in March and then to No. 18 in April.

"The Fusion is riding a great wave of publicity and good reviews, and shoppers are giving this car a good looking over," explained Chip Perry, president and chief executive officer of AutoTrader.com

"If inventory of CPO Fusions does tighten as more consumers look at and purchase the vehicles, this gives Ford an opportunity to reach out and influence those CPO shoppers to consider a new Fusion with marketing, specials and pricing," Perry continued.

"Other brands and dealerships have an opportunity to work to influence consumers who may not find a CPO Fusion and get those shoppers to consider other new or used mid-sized, four-door sedans," he added.

Beside the two Ford models, AutoTrader.com spotted eight other CPO units that posted double-digit price gains in April. This group included the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Jetta and Honda Pilot.

Only three CPO vehicles among the site's Top 20 based on consumer traffic sustained negative price changes. The greatest slide was for the Toyota Camry at 3.39 percent. Marginal drops were for the BMW 5-Series (down 0.52 percent) and Honda Civic (down 0.44 percent).

Meanwhile among used vehicles, several significant price gains in April again were found by AutoTrader.com.

This time, the Jeep Wrangler paced the field by moving up 18.6 percent. Posting nearly the identical percentage gain was the Ford F-150, a rise of 18.4 percent. The Wrangler and F-150 were among eight used units that climbed by at least 10 percent.

The rest of this contingent in the site's report included Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (up 13.5 percent), Ford F-250 (up 17.4 percent), Dodge Ram 1500 (up 13.4 percent), Chevrolet Silverado 2500 (up 10.8 percent), Dodge Ram 2500 (up 12 percent) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (up 13 percent).

Similar to CPO trends, just one used vehicle among the site's Top 20 based on consumer traffic suffered a negative price dip. That unit was the BMW 5-Series, and it was down just 0.19 percent.

Turning to new vehicles, the pace of price increases was much slower than either the CPO or used segments. AutoTrader.com noted only one new unit that climbed by double digits. That was for the Ford Fusion at 10.7 percent.

Most new-vehicle price gains came in between 3 percent and 9 percent.

Five new vehicles had negative price movement according to AutoTrader.com's Top 20 traffic list. That group included the Ford Mustang (down 4.4 percent), BMW 3-Series (down 3.9 percent), Hyundai Sonata (down 7.9 percent), Dodge Challenger (down 4.5 percent) and Honda Civic (down 3.6 percent).

"While the used-car market has been improving for several months, recovery in the new-car arena is newer and that is reflected in the moderate increase in average prices for new vehicles listed for sale on AutoTrader.com that we're seeing on the site," Perry stated.

Site Traffic Continues to Trend Higher

In April, AutoTrader.com indicated that it generated traffic of 15.4 million unique monthly visitors. That figure was up 2 percent from the 15.08 million unique visitors to the site in April of last year.

"Car shoppers today, coming off two years of a tough economy, want to know that they've made the right purchase when they finally do decide to buy a new or used car," Perry emphasized.

"AutoTrader.com offers them the tools, information and inventory that allows shoppers to do their research, compare new and used cars, view pricing and specials and then know they made the right choice," he stressed.

Site officials recapped that they recently launched an advertising campaign dubbed "Heart & Mind." They said it's intended to communicate that message via high-impact broadcast, digital and social media outreach.

"This is an exciting time for the auto industry and for AutoTrader.com," Perry insisted.

"We expect to continue to grow our traffic numbers and drive more car buyers to dealer and private seller listings on our site as more people jump back into the car market and utilize AutoTrader.com to find their perfect car," he concluded.