CPO Sales Increase in October, Reversing Negative Trend

Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles increased 1% year over year in October and were up 4% month over month compared to September, reversing a negative trend of three consecutive months of decreasing sales. For October, 233,514 CPO units were sold.

The CPO market has been one of the strongest performing segments within the auto retail market. Consumer demand has improved from the peak of COVID-19 in April. CPO sales are down 6% year to date versus the same time in 2019 while total used market is estimated to be down 8% for the same period. In the first ten months of 2020, the CPO market is down more than 145,000 units below last year. The revised 2020 Cox Automotive CPO sales forecast, which is subject to change, is 2.6 million units, down from 2.8 million sold in 2019.

In October, Toyota, Honda and Chevy continued to be the biggest players in the CPO market, collectively representing a third of all CPO sales. Those three plus Ford and Nissan account for 45% of CPO sales so far in 2020. Last year, Toyota, Honda and Chevy accounted for 32% of the total industry CPO sales reflecting that brands are maintaining consistent CPO sales share this year compared to 2019.

According to Cox Automotive estimates, total used-vehicle sales volume was down 5% year over year in October. The estimated October used SAAR is 37.5 million, down from 39.6 million last October and down compared to September’s 39 million rate. The October used retail SAAR estimate is 20.4 million, slightly down from 20.6 million last year and down month over month from September’s 20.7 million rate.