TORRANCE, Calif. -
Certified pre-owned sales closed 2010 with 10 consecutive months of year-over-year improvements and 13 brands posted full-year CPO records, as the certified market showed improvement from a sluggish 2009.
According to statistics provided by Autodata Corp., the industry moved 1.64 million CPO units during 2010. While this marked a 7.1-percent year-over-year gain, the industry has yet to return to the 2006-2008 pace, Autodata indicated.
That being said, the following brands enjoyed their best CPO years on record, according to Autodata: Acura, Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Porsche, Subaru, Mini, Maserati and Kia.
A few of these automakers discussed their 2010 challenges and successes with Auto Remarketing, and offered a glimpse into 2011, as well.
Beginning with Toyota, its best CPO year in the program’s history was capped off with a record December. The brand moved 315,440 certified vehicles in 2010, a gain of 18.6 percent, and December certified sales for Toyota reached 27,201 units, an improvement of 21.3 percent from the prior-year period.
Toyota boasts it is the first single-line OEM brand to eclipse the 300,000 certified sales mark and the first to reach 3 million all-time CPO sales.
“Our sales success in 2010 validates that our customers have tremendous confidence in the Toyota brand. Our research indicates that a large majority of our certified customers return to the Toyota brand within two-and-a-half years to buy either a new Toyota or another certified vehicle,” said Tom DeLuise, national manager for Toyota Rent A Car and Toyota Certified Used Vehicles.
“The biggest challenge our dealers and TCUV faced in 2010 was the availability of product. Toyota inventory has remained tight throughout the year, translating into some acquisition and availability issues for the dealers,” he added. “Toyota dealers have done a great job of utilizing all resources available to source high quality certifiable inventory. 
“In addition, our TCUV business has actually worked to help grow our dealer Toyota Rent A Car  business. Dealers have used this area as a great source of quality used vehicles for certification,” DeLuise continued. “Given the inventory situation, it is even more impressive that our dealers were able to set an all-time best-ever sales record in 2010."
Looking forward to this year, he noted: “As for 2011, the biggest challenges we see will be to source quality vehicles for certification, to continue our momentum and build on the success we achieved in the market in 2010.”
Also showing its best-ever CPO year, Subaru moved 20,950 certified units. This marked a 34.3-percent gain from 2009. In December, sales hit 2,275, an uptick of 64 percent and the strongest CPO month ever for the company.
“We are very pleased with these results. Despite having the largest lease return volume in our history in 2010, qualified CPO vehicle availability is still the largest issue our dealers face to stay consistently in the CPO business,” said Subaru’s Jim Sarchese.
“With lease returns decreasing throughout 2011, availability will continue to be an important issue,” he added.
The Honda brand, while not breaking its CPO record, certainly came close. It finished the year with a bang, reaching a December record. It moved 17,106 units for the month (up 25.7 percent year-over-year) and finished the year with 203,227 CPO units sold, which was 700 units shy of breaking the record.
This was up 25 percent from full-year 2009 figures.
Acura, meanwhile, had its best CPO year ever as it moved 45,303 certified models, a 13.9-percent improvement. The year was capped with the second-strongest certified month ever for Acura, as its dealers sold 4,318 CPO units (up 43.6 percent year-over-year).
“All in all, it’s been an excellent year for both Acura and Honda certified programs,” said Dan Crowe, national remarketing manager for the automaker. “The dealers are very engaged and believe the program adds value to the brand.”
Continuing on, Mazda sold 10,511 certified vehicles in 2010 (up 115 percent from the prior year), ending the year with 1,551 units sold in December (up 358 percent).
The highlight of 2010 for the automaker was generating success from the revamped certified program it rolled out during the summer.
“Mazda’s biggest success was launching an enhanced CPO program that provided a great value proposition to the customer and the dealer,” said Eric Watson, group manager of remarketing and CPO for Mazda North American Operations.
Moving on to the domestic side, General Motors certified brands combined to sell 297,791 units in 2010, down 14.3 percent from the previous year. Sales the final month of the year were apparently relatively static (down 0.9 percent) from the prior-year period at 23,009 units.
GM Certified Used Vehicles had 2010 sales of 271,582 units, and this included sales for Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn. In 2009, GM Certified (those same brands, but without Saturn and adding Oldsmobile) moved 303,541 units.
December sales reached 21,036 units, compared with 20,262 in the prior year. For comparison purposes, neither full-year nor December sales for either metric included Saab.
“GM Certified Used Vehicles closed out 2010 with another positive sales month,” noted GM Certified manager Larry Pryg. “We’re moving into the new year with steady momentum, especially with our new ‘No Worries Sales Event’ — 1.9 percent APR financing on seven different GM Certified models.”
As for another domestic, Ford moved 132,334 CPO units in 2010, which was relatively steady (up 0.4 percent) from the 2009 total. December certified sales came in at 10,145 units, a 0.6-percent increase.
By brand, the Ford division moved 8,572 CPO units for the month (down 0.3 percent year-over-year), while there were 1,573 certified Lincoln Mercury units sold (up 6 percent).
Over at Chrysler its year-end CPO sales reached 107,203 units, up 16.4 percent from 2009 sales. It closed 2010 with 9,010 certified vehicles sold in December, a 25.2-percent improvement from the same period of 2009.
By brand, Jeep moved 3,413 CPO units in December (up 42.5 percent), Dodge sold 3,245 certified rides (up 10.8 percent) and CPO sales for the Chrysler brand reached 2,352 units (up 25.8 percent).
Continuing on, Lexus posted CPO sales of 68,370 units during its best-ever 2010. This is an 8.9-percent spike. The brand had its best certified month ever in December, too, as sales reached 7,096 units. This marked a 15.2-percent year-over-year growth.
Next up was Mercedes-Benz, whose record 2010 CPO sales reached 80,698 units, a 12.3-percent improvement. The automaker finished the year selling 6,335 CPO units in December for a 24.3-percent gain.
As for BMW, its CPO sales reached 9,764 units in December, which was down 12.3 percent year-over-year. Full-year sales hit 112,201 certified units, a decrease of 1.9 percent.
VW’s record CPO year included sales of 55,188 units, up 25.7 percent from 2009. It moved 4,882 certified vehicles in December, a 62.6-percent hike.
Furthermore, Audi moved 28,519 CPO vehicles in 2010, compared with 28,351 CPO vehicles sold the previous year. The brand closed the year with CPO sales of 2,877 units, an improvement from the 1,932 certified units it sold in December 2009. 
Over at Nissan, its brands combined to sell 91,782 certified vehicles in 2010, compared with 79,738 units in 2009. For December, CPO sales were 6,734 units, compared with 7,066 vehicles in the year-ago period.
By brand, the Nissan division sold 5,856 units in December (down 3.1 percent) and Infiniti moved 878 units (down 14.3 percent).
Hyundai’s year-end CPO total was 22,688 vehicles (up 51.1 percent) and its December total came in at 2,274 (up 79.9 percent).
Moreover, Kia moved 7,052 CPO units in 2010 (up 61 percent) and sold 572 certified rides in the final month of the year (up 25.7 percent).
Volvo sold 17,111 certified vehicles for the year, a decrease of 25.8 percent. In the final month of the year, it moved 1,148 units, down 31.6 percent.
Among other automakers, Porsche’s record year saw CPO sales of 7,519 units, up 12.9 percent from 2009.
Mini sold 2,053 CPO vehicles in 2010, a gain of 8.5 percent.
Jaguar reached certified sales of 4,381 units in 2010, compared with 5,100 in the prior year. Meanwhile, CPO sales for Land Rover came in at 2,966 units for the year, down from 5,149 vehicles in 2009.
Saab sold 2,623 certified vehicles, versus 4,862 in the previous year. Mitsubishi’s CPO sales hit 551 for the year, down from 821.
Bentley was estimated to have sold 360 certified units in 2010, compared with 381 vehicles in 2009.
Finally, Maserati sold 255 CPO units in its second year of reporting certified data, up from 105 in 2009.