CARY, N.C. -

There were 10.14 million used-vehicle retail sales in the first three months of the year, according to Edmunds.com, which said this was the best first quarter since 2012.

It also beats year-ago figures by 3.4 percent, the company said in its Q1 2016 Used Vehicle Market Report released last week.

Franchised dealers were particularly strong, retailing 2.98 million used vehicles during the period, which represented their best first quarter ever and a 5.8-percent gain from Q1 of 2015.

In a phone interview last week, Edmunds director of industry analysis Jessica Caldwell said that increases in lease returns and higher-quality off-rental cars are giving franchised stores a shot in the arm.

 “I think that this market is still very strong, but I think the growth that we’re seeing — especially when you break down the different areas of used sales — we’re seeing the most growth in franchised versus the independent/private-party (sales),” she said.

How are things progressing in the second quarter? 

In the latest Kontos Kommentary report, ADESA’s Tom Kontos cites NADA data indicating that franchised dealers increased retail used sales by 6.7 percent year-over-year in April and independent dealers boosted retail sales by 3.4 percent.

Kontos adds that “both were up significantly up month over month as sales rebounded from the Easter holiday impact in March.”

Cox Automotive is forecasting the used-car market to hit about 40 million sales this year, “which is a great, healthy volume,” albeit not up significantly from 2015, said Cox Automotive Media Group president Jared Rowe in an interview earlier this month.