WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -

Certified pre-owned vehicle sales were up modestly in April, as the first third of the year wrapped up slightly ahead of the 2016 pace.

According to Autodata Corp., there were 234,493 CPO sales last month, beating year-ago figures by 0.7 percent. That pushes the year-to-date sum to 881,881 sales, a 0.3-percent increase.

This follows a particularly strong March, a month where Autodata determined the industry turned the second-highest amount of CPO units ever and four automakers posted new all-time highs for monthly CPO sales. 

As for April, European brands were up 3.6 percent with 38,771 certified sales, the firm said. Asian brands were up 0.2 percent with 113,052 sales and the Big 3 was down 0.1 percent with 82,670 CPO sales. 

For the year, however, European brands have increased sales 5.5 percent with 148,463 units moved, the firm's data indicated.

 Asian brands are up 3.6 percent with 433,002 CPO sales.

Certified sales for domestics are down 6.3 percent at 300,416 units sold. 

Staff writer Nick Zulovich contributed to this report.