Based on preliminary results shared by Autodata Corp., the estimated total for industry-wide certified pre-owned sales in April would be the second-best month of all time.

Autodata is estimating that April CPO sales reached 176,314, which would be a 23.2-percent year-over-year increase. It would trail the best-ever month — which, incidentally, was March — by 7.2 percent.

Through four months, the estimated year-to-date sum for CPO sales in 674,037 units. This would be 12.7 percent stronger than the total through April 201

Similar to other recent months, April had its fair share of record-breakers among the OEM CPO programs, the firm reported.

Mercedes-Benz, for one, had its best month in history with 8,738 CPO sales. This was a 37.2-percent uptick from April 2012 and pushed year-to-date sales to 33,091 units (up 25.9 percent).

Autodata indicated the following as achieving their strongest Aprils for certified sales: Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mini, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

Brand Breakdown

Based on reports from individual automaker CPO programs and Autodata’s findings, here is a breakdown of how individual brands fared last month in the certified market:

Volkswagen sold 8,237 CPO units for a 10.3-percent upswing. This also represented the third-strongest month (April or otherwise) that VW has ever had in the certified market.

Sales through the first four months of the year represent the strongest year-to-date start ever for VW, as it has sold 31,988 CPO vehicles (up 11.3 percent year-over-year.)

Mazda posted 2,930 CPO sales for the month. This was up 63.1 percent year-over-year and was the second-best month ever for the brand. The only month where Mazda sold more CPO vehicles was actually this past March, when it moved 3,390 certified rides.

Through April, it has sold 11,518 certified units (up 54.7 percent year-over-year).

Hyundai sold 6,218 CPO cars, besting last April’s total by 32.5 percent. In four months, it has moved 23,952 vehicles for a 13.3-percent uptick.

Meanwhile, Kia increased its certified sales 101.9 percent with 2,544 units moved in April. Year-to-date sales stood at 9,625 units (up 76.1 percent).

Over at Ford, its brands combined to move 18,852 certified vehicles in the month (up 39.5 percent) and 69,131 units year-to-date (up 33.6 percent). By brand, Ford/Mercury moved 16,975 CPO vehicles in April while Lincoln sold 1,877.

At General Motors, certified sales of Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn units reached 29,800 units last month, which was up 37.1 percent year-over-year. Through April, year-to-date sales have come in at 111,715 units for a 17.3-percent gain.

Meanwhile, Cadillac CPO sales totaled 1,575 units in April (up 18.5 percent) with four-month sales at 6,316 units (up 4.3 percent).

Chrysler’s brands combined to move 9,882 certified vehicles during the month (up 14.9 percent) and reached year-to-date sales of 39,029 units (up 0.4 percent). The Dodge division led the way with 4,557 CPO sales (up 6.7 percent) in April, followed by Jeep with 3,270 sales (up 22.6 percent) and Chrysler with 2,055 certified sales (up 23.4 percent).

Fiat — which was not included in the above total for Chrysler Group — sold 17 CPO vehicles in April.

Toyota moved 31,139 CPO vehicles last month (up 24.2 percent), pushing year-to-date sales to 120,219 units (up 12 percent). Lexus sold 6,111 certified units last month, up from 5,256 CPO sales in April 2012. Year-to-date CPO sales have reached 23,402 units, versus 23,065 in the same period last year.

There were 20,501 certified Honda vehicles sold last month (up 9.1 percent) and 3,393 certified Acuras sold (down 2.6 percent). Through four months, there have been 78,567 certified Honda sales (down 0.3 percent) and 13,116 certified Acura sales (down 5.1 percent).

Nissan CPO sales hit 9,424 units in April (up 5.7 percent) while Infiniti sold 899 (down 22.8 percent). Year-to-date, Nissan has moved 36,858 CPO units (up 8.6 percent) and Infiniti has sold 3,629 (down 19 percent).

Subaru’s 2,755 certified sales last month marked a 43.6-percent hike and moved year-to-date sales to 10,424 units (up 38.4 percent).

BMW notched 6,768 CPO sales in April (up 13.1 percent) and it has moved 26,314 certified units through four months (up 6.6 percent).

Audi sold 3,257certifed units for the month, compared with 2,863 CPO sales in April 2012. Through four months, it has hit 12,311 CPO sales, versus 11,649 sales in the year-ago time frame.

Next up was Volvo, which sold 961 CPO vehicles last month for a 1.7-percent hike, with year-to-date sales totaling 3,786 (up 0.3 percent).  Porsche’s 824 certified sales was 4.6 percent ahead of the year-ago sum. Year-to-date, it has sold 3,195 CPO vehicles for a 1.3-percent increase.

Mini’s CPO sales came in at 522 for the month, more than doubling last April’s total of 253. Mitsubishi sold 26 CPO vehicles, down from 48 a year ago. Maserati’s 35 CPO sales were down from 43 last April.

It was estimated that Jaguar sold 285 CPO vehicles, while Land Rover was estimated to have moved 580 and the  projection for Bentley was 30 certified sales.

Editor's Note: Autodata Corp. emphasized the industry CPO sales totals are estimates and will be updated.

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