IRVINE, Calif. -

At the time of Mazda’s launch of a revamped certified pre-owned program on July 1, 2010, the company had sold 5,125 certified units in the preceding 12 months.

Fast forward some two-and-a-half years later and Mazda is celebrating annual CPO sales more than five times as high as that sum.

The 27,239 CPO sales in 2012 represented a best-ever year for the brand and a 43.5-percent hike from 2011.

That year, Mazda sold 18,976 certified units, which also was a best-ever yearly figure at the time. In fact, Mazda has now achieved three straight years of record-breaking certified sales.

“We work as a team here at Mazda on everything we do. Since launching the revamped CPO program in 2010, it has been a team effort from the dealers' participation, to the representatives in the field supporting the program, to Mazda Capital Services offering competitive financing and finally Mazda building quality vehicles that we are able to remarket as CPO vehicles,” said Roger Basa, manager of CPO and remarketing at Mazda North American Operations.

“Working together has helped push this program beyond anyone’s expectations and is the sole reason why it has been so successful,” he continued.

Ron Stettner, vice president of sales at MNAO, added: “We want our customers to know that Mazda vehicles are not only stylish and fun to drive, but they also retain their value. Through our 150-point inspection, warranty and AutoCheck Buyback Protection, our CPO program is designed to instill confidence in our customers.”

Explaining more about one of those benefits, Mazda recently began offering a three-year repurchase guarantee in its CPO program via AutoCheck Buyback Protection, which is available for consumers at no added cost.

Here’s how it works: if the vehicle is reported to have a clean title by AutoCheck and then later it’s discovered that the car has a certain title brand, AutoCheck will buy back the vehicle (up to 110 percent of the NADAguides.com published retail value) in addition to coverage of as much as $500 worth of aftermarket accessories.