CLEVELAND and McLEAN, Va. -

In surveying car dealers and industry contacts for its latest investor guidance report ahead of the fourth-quarter and full-year financial statements from the nation’s six publicly traded dealer groups, KeyBanc Capital Markets painted a picture of relatively healthy used-car activity.

In fact, a third of the respondents in KeyBanc’s December report said used-vehicle gross profit per unit went up by more than $50 in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the bulk reported a “relatively flat” period (41 percent), the report said. A little more than a quarter (26 percent) found used gross profit per unit fell.

These trends occurred “on industry volume growth of 8 percent, as reported by CNW Research,” the report read.

“Franchised dealers performed relatively in line with the independent used-car dealerships in 4Q12 (22 percent and 21 percent year-over-year increase respectively),” KeyBanc said. “Both segments appear to have taken share from the casual (consumer-to-consumer) used-car sales (down 21 percent year-over-year in the quarter).”

Looking ahead to this year, the commentary went on to say: “We remain favorable on the new- and used-vehicle sales in 2013 supported by steady economic growth outlook, improving unemployment reports, pent-up demand, driven by record-high fleet age, new product offerings, and a favorable financing environment.”

Detailing more on used-car projections, KeyBanc added in its report on the publicly traded dealer groups: “Continued strength in used-vehicle demand despite elevated used-vehicle pricing (driven by tight supply of late-model vehicle) supports a generally favorable used-vehicle gross profit outlook.”

Online Used-Car Activity Growth Trends

Moving over to the online element of the used-car market, the Guidelines report from NADA Used Car Guide released this month offered a look at which brands of used cars showed the most year-over-year growth in consumer activity on the NADAguides.com website during December.

As the NADAguides data indicates, luxury brands dominated.

Leading the way was Porsche, followed by BMW and Audi, respectively. In fact, nine of the top 11 brands for strongest gains in consumer activity for used makes were luxury brands.

Breaking down the top three, used-car activity increased roughly 15 percent for the Porsche brand year-over-year-year, with BMW and Audi both up around 12 percent.

“The lift in consumer activity can most likely be attributed toward new-model introductions,” said NADA Used Car Guide analyst David Paris, in explaining the luxury brand gains.

“Many of the brands with the biggest change in activity have released new high-profile models recently,” he continued. “These new models create buzz around the brands and also interest for those with used models who are considering buying new. In addition there is also an increased profile of CPO programs with these brands.”

Continuing down the line, Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover were both up about 6 percent, while Volvo was up around 5 percent to come in sixth. Jaguar and Lincoln increased around 4 percent.

Next up were Lexus and Volkswagen (both up about 3 percent), followed by Acura and GMC (each climbing around 2 percent).

 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.