IRVINE, Calif. -

Certified pre-owned sales continue to soar, recently scoring the best quarter ever for the certified market. 

And this growth in popularity cuts down on the challenges for dealers when it comes to conveying the value of the certified vehicle to customers.

When CPO vehicles first hit the lot, dealers had quite a job convincing potential buyers these vehicles were worth the slightly higher price tags; now, the new generation of CPO buyers have already done the research themselves and are well aware of the benefits of buying certified.

Maria Williams, CPO retail support manager at Kia Motors America, went a step further.

“We have found that customers are at times more knowledgeable than some in the business in regards to the benefits of CPO,” she said, adding, “Consumers are becoming more and more savvy on all aspects of the automobile industry  and CPO is no exception.”

Before potential customers even make it onto the lots, Williams said they are already made aware of the benefits of Kia’s program by Tier 3 advertising that KMA offers for its website www.kia-cpo.com, and third-party sites such as AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, Edmunds.com, CertifiedCars.com and Carfax.com.

“We also have posts on KMA’s Facebook page and send messages via Twitter directly from KMA on the same topic,” she added.

On top of using the company’s own website as well as third-party sites, Williams says social media serves as one of the best outlets to reach today’s potential certified shopper.

“Social media and digital are the best avenues that we have found, as today’s consumer spends an average of 18 hours researching a vehicle purchase before making a decision, and 11 of those are spent online,” Williams said.

So, today’s CPO shopper will most likely know the certified program front and back before they make it onto the lot; but what about customers that aren’t sure whether to buy used or CPO?

Williams says they focus on in-dealership advertising to promote the program to these shoppers.

“We provide our dealers a myriad of point of sale materials that promote CPO by dressing CPO vehicles with the same, as well as the dealership itself,” Williams said.

Some of the on-the-lot advertising techniques include 6-foot-tall wind feathers, or flags, that are utilized to bookend the CPO vehicles on the lot, as well as 4-foot-long decals that adhere to the top part of the windshield — all serving to help the certified vehicles stand out from the store’s new and used inventory.

“We have found that by segregating CPO from new and used as the third viable option for consumers, we are right in line with what the industry is doing, (primarily in the luxury makes), in their advertising and therefor fortifying the consumers’ opinion of CPO  as just as good as new but at a lower price point,” said Williams.

Editor's Note: This story is featured in the Oct. 15-31 print and digital editions of Auto Remarketing, which is our annual CPO Dealer of the Year issue that includes a special look into CPO trends and best practices.