BANDON, Ore. -

In an analysis released earlier this month, CNW said that September could have brighter days in store for the used-vehicle market following a rather tough August. 

Seems CNW was right on the money with its predictions, as used-car sales this month will likely beat year-ago figures by more than 2 percent. But that is not the only positive sign for dealers in the used-car market this month: a hearty helping of off-lease and trade-in cars are pushing up used-vehicle inventory for dealers, who aren’t having to shell out as much money to get the used units they need.

CNW shed some light on these trends in its latest Retail Automotive Summary, which projected September to finish with 3.74 million used sales industry-wide.

That would be a 2.6-percent increase over September 2013 and push the year-to-date sum to 32.40 million, which is off a slight 0.2 percent from last year’s pace.

For the month, franchised dealers are expected to sell 1.45 million used vehicles (up 2.7 percent), and independents are forecasted to move 1.26 million used cars (up 1.8 percent). CNW is predicting 1.03 million private-party sales this month (up 3.3 percent).

Meanwhile, Edmunds.com is predicting 2.95 million used sales for the month with a used-car SAAR of 36.3 million. 

Turning its attention to the pricing and supply side of the market, CNW discussed how a boost in supply and a drop in wholesale pricing is benefitting dealers’ used-car ops.

“Dealers are taking advantage of lower wholesale prices and the influx of both trade-ins and off-lease vehicles,” CNW president Art Spinella said in the report. “The result: On-lot inventories are swelling with the used days’ supply up 3.55 percent versus a year ago and above 47.6 days in inventory.

“These lower wholesale prices have sent franchised-dealer asking prices downward to $11,309 versus a year ago’s $11,729,” he continued. “For independent dealers, asking prices have dipped only slightly.”

Specifically, asking prices for independents in September were at $10,392, down from $10,437 a year ago.