Data Point
CPO Sales Up Slightly in February
Monday March 15, 2021
Article Highlights
- Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles declined 12% year over year in February but were up 4% month over month compared to softer sales in January.
- In February, 209,744 CPO units were sold.
- In February, Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet continued to be the biggest players in the CPO market, collectively representing 32% of all CPO sales.
Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles declined 12% year over year in February but were up 4% month over month compared to softer sales in January. In February, 209,744 CPO units were sold.
The CPO market has been one of the strongest performing segments within the auto retail market despite the ongoing pandemic. Going into 2021, we expect the CPO market to resume its consistent performance of annual growth after a dip in 2020. The 2021 Cox Automotive CPO sales forecast, which is subject to change, is 2.8 million units, up from 2.6 million sold in 2020 and on par with 2019.
In February, Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet continued to be the biggest players in the CPO market, collectively representing 32% of all CPO sales. Those three automakers plus Ford and Nissan accounted for 45% of CPO sales this past month. CPO sales in 2020 were led by the big volume players Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet, which represented 30% of total CPO sales.
According to Cox Automotive estimates, total used vehicle sales were down 3% year over year in February. We estimate the February used SAAR to be 38.0 million, down from 39.4 million last February and flat compared to January’s 38.1 million rate. The February used retail SAAR estimate is 20.8 million, down from 20.9 million last year and flat month over month from January.