IRVINE, Calif. -

For the second month in a row, the same three brands set all-time records for certified pre-owned sales, according to Autodata Corp., which said the overall CPO market in September beat year-ago figures and continued to outpace 2010 on a year-to-date basis, as well.

Overall, certified sales increased 4.6 percent year-over-year and hit 141,516 units for the month, Autodata indicated. This sum was a 3.2-percent dip from August.

CPO sales through the third quarter of 2011 totaled 1.31 million units, a 6.2-percent hike from the prior-year period.

The three brands achieving all-time records were Hyundai, Kia and Nissan, all of which broke the previous records they had set in August.

For Kia, this marks the third straight month it has posted best-ever CPO sales.

In addition to sharing its reaction to breaking the record, Kia’s director of fleet and remarketing David Carp — along with other CPO executives — talked about some of their CPO incentives and other steps the company has taken to keep the certified momentum rolling.

“We are very excited about breaking an all-time high record in September with 977 Kia CPO units sold,” Carp said. “Kia Motors continues to be dedicated to growing our Kia certified pre-owned brand.

“Receiving recently the award from ALG as the most improved residual brand illustrates how our products are being received amongst smart consumers,” he continued. “For September, we continued our special 2.9-percent financing through Kia Motors Finance and we worked with expanding our Kia dealer base that are authorized to sell Kia Certified Pre Owned. We now have over 70 percent of our dealers signed up to sell Kia certified pre-owned.”

He also noted that Kia will continue the 2.9-percent financing through the end of the year.

Moving over to Toyota, Brad Heagy — the retail sales and operations manager for TCUV/TRAC — talked about how potential increases in new-car incentives may impact things on the CPO side.

He said that Toyota believes “that a changing new vehicle incentive landscape will ultimately drive more traffic. This should enhance our dealerships’ ability to source more quality units, which will afford sustained CPO sales efforts resulting from better overall inventories.

“Separately, we also remain committed to our current 2.9-percent APR for 60 months throughout the month of October,” he added.

Toyota’s Tom DeLuise added: “As the new-car industry continues to show signs of growth, we feel it will help our TCUV business as well. At Toyota, we have new-car production back at 100 percent."

DeLuise went on to note that full production and the debut of the 2012 Camry will help lift store traffic, "which will help both our new-car and TCUV business.”

Offering the take of a domestic automaker, Ford CPO manager Glenn Burke noted: “Dealers continue to see sales, profit, and loyalty opportunities by further leveraging CPO. We’ll continue to collaboratively work with dealers to ensure they have the right marketing programs, as a strong CPO presence is an enabler to new-vehicle sales and dealer profitability.”

As for Nissan and its record month,  senior manager of pre-owned and CPO Marty Gleason had this to say: "There have been internal and external factors that have supported our record-breaking sales. We are now advertising consistently on five major websites. Our captive finance company, NMAC, has played a role by increasing their appetite for incremental used business.

"And finally, our regional representatives have been engaging our dealer body on these enhancements, and our dealers have responded accordingly," he continued.

Gleason added that the dealer body’s merchandising efforts have been the major catalyst to lift Nissan CPO "over the top." Dealer participation has gone up 20 percent, and CPO Web listings have climbed 46 percent, he said.

"Let’s face it, the entire industry is suffering from a decreased availability of lease maturities, so it’s been difficult for dealers to find an ample supply of the right vehicles to certify," Gleason continued. "Nissan dealers have developed their own strategies to fulfill this need. Our strong CPO dealers focus on loyalty from their entire portfolio, not just lease customers.

"Due to the strong values of our pre-owned vehicles, dealers are able to offer very enticing monthly payments to their current owner body," he added. "These trade-ins are perfect for certification since the dealer knows the vehicle maintenance histories and has additional confidence that Nissan will support their merchandising efforts with competitive APRs and advertising. It’s a win-win. As more of our dealers get engaged, there’s no stopping us!" 

Moving along to share how various automakers fared in the most recently completed month, Toyota moved 27,193 certified units, compared to 24,988 in September 2010. Year-to-date sales have hit 251,948 vehicles, up from 234,290 sales at this point last year.

Lexus’ CPO sales dipped 2.6 percent at 5,450 units sold, with yearly sales at 52,501 units, a 5-percent gain.

Kia sold 977 CPO vehicles in September for a 73.8-percent increase. Its year-to-date sales are up 19.6 percent at 6,443 units.

Hyundai sold 5,116 units in September, up from 2,195 CPO sales a year ago. Year-to-date sales have reached 33,650 units, more than double the 15,904 certified sales in the first nine months of 2010.

Over at Nissan, the Nissan division moved 8,633 CPO units in September (up 16.5 percent) and Infiniti sold 1,126 CPO rides (up 27.2 percent). So far this year, Nissan’s certified sales have come in at 67,216 units (up 9.1 percent), while Infiniti has improved 13.8 percent with 9,746 CPO sales.

On the domestic side, Ford moved 10,654 CPO vehicles in September, a 5.9-percent hike. Through the first nine months of the year, its certified sales have totaled 96,589 vehicles, down 4.8 percent from last year’s pace.

By brand, the Ford division’s sales came in at 8,786 CPO units in September (up 1.7 percent), while Lincoln Mercury posted a 30.7-percent hike with 1,868 sales. Lincoln, in particular, jumped more than 66 percent.

At General Motors, its dealers moved 24,694 certified vehicles (core and discontinued brands combined), down 6 percent from September 2010.

Through the first nine months of the year, sales for those same brands have totaled 231,349 vehicles, up 2 percent year-over-year.

“Our customers and dealers count on us to offer competitive incentives, and unsurpassed value — in terms of maintenance, warranty, customer service and beyond,” stated Larry Pryg, GM’s national manager of certified pre-owned vehicles. “September showed slight inventory growth, though it continues to be a struggle industry-wide. We’re supporting and assisting our dealers to ensure they can grow their inventory.”

Chrysler, meanwhile, posted CPO sales of 9,770 units, up 9.3 percent year-over-year.

Year-to-date sales stand at 86,010 units, up 7.3 percent. By brand, there were 3,578 certified Jeep sales in September (up 14.6 percent), Dodge moved 4,086 CPO rides (up 17.6 percent) and CPO sales for the Chrysler brand came in at 2,106 units (down 10.1 percent).

Mercedes-Benz sold 5,707 certified vehicles in September, down 8.6 percent from the same period of 2010. Yearly CPO sales for the automaker have come in at 57,359 units, down 5.9 percent.

Volkswagen posted 5,628 certified sales for the month, up 15.6 percent year-over-year. In the first three quarters, it sold 55,954 CPO vehicles for a 37.8-percent gain.

Audi sold 2,871 certified units for the month, up from 2,275 a year ago. Through September, it has moved 28,389 CPO cars, compared to 21,026 units in the same period of 2010.

CPO sales for the Honda brand in September totaled 17,694 units, down 2.8 percent from a year ago. Year-to-date sales are at 172,289 units, a 12.1-percent hike.

The Acura brand reached 3,531 CPO sales last month, which was off 4 percent. Yearly, sales have climbed 10.9 percent at 36,989 units sold.

Mazda moved 1,605 certified vehicles last month for a 28.4-percent gain. Year-to-date sales have hit 13,822 units, a gain of 121.2 percent year-over-year.

BMW’s certified sales reached 6,400 units in September, down 30.4 percent year-over-year.

Its CPO sales through the three quarters are at 64,496 units, down 24.3 percent from the same period of 2010.

Volvo posted certified sales of 1,129 units, compared to 1,363 CPO sales a year ago. Year-to-date sales are at 9,768 units, down from 13,615 sales in the year-ago period.

Subaru moved 1,875 certified vehicles, up 5.6 percent year-over-year. Year-to-date sales reached 17,673 units, a 20.4-percent hike.

Moving along, Porsche’s CPO sales totaled 714 units in September (up 15 percent), and its year-to-date sales were 6,597 vehicles (up 16.8 percent).

Jaguar sold 266 certified units last month, down 31.3 percent year-over-year, and its year-to-date sum is at 2,987 units (down 7.2 percent). Land Rover moved 38 CPO units last month (down 83.6 percent) and its yearly sum is at 1,353 units (down 39.3 percent).

Mini moved 190 CPO vehicles in September (up 43.9 percent) and Saab sold 67 (down 67.5 percent).

Maserati sold 32 CPO vehicles in September, up from 29 sales a year ago. Bentley was estimated to have sold 30 certified vehicles in September, as was Mitsubishi.