Automakers certified pre-owned vehicle programs in the US market are off to a great start in 2023, as CPO sales in January were 21.5% higher compared to last year.
According to data from Cox Automotive, dealerships sold a total of 202,074 units of CPO vehicles in January 2023, representing an increase of almost 36,000 units from January 2022. However, sales in January 2023 were slightly lower than in December 2022, which is typically a stronger sales period. Additionally, used retail sales in January 2023 are estimated at 1.5 million units, which is a 7.5% drop from last year, according to the same source.
Read: Stellantis CPO Go Program Will Offer Vehicles Up To Ten Years Old And With Up To 125,000 Miles
Chris Frey, senior manager of Cox Automotive, said that the sales increase over the same month last year could be a result of the updated CPO programs from big players like Ford, Honda, and Nissan that were recently expanded to include 9 and 10-year-old vehicles. Frey claims that those programs allow more options for buyers “as the pool of gently used vehicles shrinks”.
The brand with the highest CPO sales volume in January 2023 was Toyota, while the largest gains compared to last year were achieved by Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Ford.
CPO sales have been on the decline, with a grand total of 2.47 million units in 2022 representing a 10.2% drop (-280,000 units) compared to 2021. Cox Automotive’s forecast for 2023 predicts a further 11% drop to a projected 2.2 million units, due to the limited availability of CPO cars. If those numbers are valid, then 2023 will mark the lowest sales for Certified Pre-Owned vehicles in the last decade.
