ATLANTA -

In the first full year of operations, the Motor Trend Certified Pre-Owned program notched more than 10,000 sales, officials said Wednesday.

Motor Trend crafted the program, which is powered by EasyCare. It was rolled out Sept. 9, 2009.

As some may know, Motor Trend Certified aims to supplement the factory CPO sales at dealerships, giving dealers a manner in which to certify models on their lots from other manufacturers.

“This is a huge success for a program that is just completing its first full year since the national launch. Created to complement OEM CPO programs, Motor Trend Certified focuses on OMM (Other Make and Model) vehicles on dealers’ lots,” explained Ira Gabriel, executive vice president at Motor Trend and Source Interlink Media.

“We’re thrilled that dealers have been able to simultaneously grow customer satisfaction scores and profitability on those vehicles,” Gabriel continued. “For the car lovers at Motor Trend, it’s an amazing feeling to know that we have helped make the car-buying experience a more positive one for over 10,000 drivers this year through the Motor Trend Certified program.”

Specifically, there were 10,010 Motor Trend Certified units sold in 2010.

Jennifer Silverberg, who is the vice president of marketing and customer experience for EasyCare, explained to Auto Remarketing that with regards to that sum, it included  “those are all vehicles that included the Motor Trend Certified benefits.

“It’s possible that some of those vehicles may have also been factory certified (occasionally dealers double-up to get the benefits of both certifications), but they were all Motor Trend Certified,” she continued.

At the end of 2010, there were 38 dealers who were participating in the program, according to Silverberg. There was “significant dealer movement” in 2010, but this mainly consisted of dealers joining the program. However, “a few” were taken out of the program.

Silverberg noted that the program’s top-performing dealers include Minnesota’s Apple Automotive Group and Missouri’s Bommarito Automotive Group.

“Special kudos also to Ricart Automotive, who entered the program late in the year but has had several outstanding months,” she shared.

Offering a bit of dealer perspective, Steve Ewing, of Wade Ford, noted: “The Motor Trend Certified program has given my franchise a real advantage over our competition. Complementing our OEM certified program with the Motor Trend certification builds credibility for my business and allows us to offer the benefits of certification to far more customers.”

Moving along, officials noted that brand growth and bolstered direct-to-consumer advertising via Motor Trend/Source Interlink and other media outlets has helped generate greater interest in the program among shoppers.

They also noted that the program’s dealers have benefited from Motor Trend Certified teaming with NCM Associates, which is the program’s official Twenty Group moderator. NCM also offers various training and analysis to the program’s dealers.