While still up double-digit percentages, the growth in commercial vehicle volumes at auction is starting to slow. And that’s to be expected, according to the National Auto Auction Association.

Through the first three quarters of 2024, commercial vehicle sales at auction have climbed 25.6% compared to the first nine months of 2023, NAAA said in analysis around its latest AuctionNet data.

But much of that growth happened in the first seven months of the year, where the average year-over-year gain each month was 28%, NAAA said.

The average year-over-year increase in commercial volumes the past two months has been 14.7%.

“This isn’t a surprise given that off-lease volume was expected to begin to wane over the second half of the year and given that rental wholesale sales were expected to flatten out as volume stabilized following a prolonged period where it was well below normal,” said Larry Dixon, NAAA’s vice president of Auction Data Solutions/AuctionNet, in the analysis.

“Considering that new vehicle sales into rental and commercial fleets are down year-to-date, we should expect to see the flattening trend continue moving forward,” he said.

Overall, there were 524,951 sales of wholesale units at auction last month, which beat September 2023 by 5.7%.  That was down 2.8% from August, NAAA said.

Dealer consignment sales were up 0.7% year-over-year in September and commercial sales were up 16%.

Through nine months of the year, there have been 5.11 million auction sales, which beats year-ago figures by 8.7%.

Note: This is part of a monthly series in which Auto Remarketing shares AuctionNet data and commentary provided by the National Auto Auction Association.

As noted by the organization, more than 260 NAAA member auctions power AuctionNet, making it the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S. Unless otherwise noted, auction sales figures are based on total reporting auctions, the number and composition of which may vary over time. 

AuctionNet® Wholesale Auction Results
September-24
Total Unit Sales
Sep-23 Sep-24 % Change
Overall Market 497,741 525,941 5.7%
Compact Car 55,757 52,797 -5.3%
Compact Crossover/SUV 69,386 76,181 9.8%
Compact Luxury Crossover/SUV 10,235 12,407 21.2%
Full-Size Pickup 62,321 66,940 7.4%
Luxury Car 28,200 29,533 4.7%
Mid-Size Car 61,086 59,826 -2.1%
Mid-Size Crossover/SUV 70,372 80,086 13.8%
Mid-Size Luxury Crossover/SUV 16,903 18,325 8.4%
Electric Vehicles 6,209 9,094 46.5%
About AuctionNet®:
265 National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) member auctions power AuctionNet®, making it the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S. Unless otherwise noted, auction sales figures are based on total reporting auctions, the number and composition of which may vary over time.

Charts/data courtesy of NAAA/AuctionNet