Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles decreased more in April than in the overall used retail market year-over-year. CPO sales fell by more than 4.2%, or over 9,000 units, from April 2022. CPO units are down by 6%, or roughly 15,000 units, from March.
Chris Frey, senior manager of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive, stated, “April CPO sales took a hit compared to March, but the pace was healthier than either January or February.” Adding, “The current year-to-date sales pace of 213,000 is down by 21,000 from the pre-pandemic monthly average, but it is about 7,500 better than last year.”
The number of used vehicles sold, excluding private party sales, is predicted to be 1.6 million, down 1.2% from April 2022. The rate of used retail sales increased from March’s downwardly revised 18.1 million level to 18.3 million in April.
“Higher interest rates and the looming concerns of a recession likely contributed to the CPO sales decline, with buyers pulling back from last month,” added Frey.
According to the Cox Automotive team, data from Dealertrack may be understating sales due to a spike in cash purchases that has been a trend over the past ten months as interest rates have risen to 20-year highs.
To illustrate, Toyota had the highest CPO sales volume in April among other manufacturers. Also, Hyundai had the most significant year-over-year percentage gain in CPO sales, whereas Chevrolet had the largest decline.
