CARY, N.C. -

The Ram brand at FCA US made quite a splash in the new-vehicle market last month, hitting its best sales month since becoming a standalone brand a decade ago.  
The stats are quite impressive: June’s sales of 68,098 units were a 56% increase, according to FCA.

That begs the question: Is Ram’s success on the new-car side also being seen in certified pre-owned, as well?

It would appear so.

There were 4,739 CPO Ram vehicles sold in June, a 7.9% year-over-year increase, said Eric Swanson, who is head of certified pre-owned vehicles at FCA.

The year-to-date improvement (16.4%) is even stronger, with 28,311 CPO Ram sales through June.

“It's no surprise that the Ram 1500 is our number one selling CPO vehicle,” Swanson said in an email. “I think our big driver of success is our dealers recognize customers want a great used Ram truck with a CPO warranty backed by the factory. 

“Dealers can get them at our auctions, they can get them as lease returns, they can get them in trades and by stocking those they have all kinds of options with a customer,” he said.

“Once they are inspected, reconditioned and certified, the traditional used-vehicle buyer has an amazing truck with peace of mind with the CPO,” Swanson said. “Then we have the new body style Ram with incredible looks and performance, so moving them over to the new truck is very easy to do.

“They really feed off each other.”

Going back to the new-vehicle market, June was the third time since December that there have been more than 60,000 new Rams sold, head of U.S. sales Reid Bigland said in a news release.

“For the first-half of 2019, Ram has been on a tear since we made the strategic decision to enter the year with a three-truck strategy. The new Ram 1500, Ram Classic and Heavy Duty are all generating a huge response from customers and critics alike,” Bigland said. “This is now the third month Ram pickup sales have surpassed 60,000 since December. Our dealers had a steady stream of customers all month long.”