Used-car sales likely up 13% from May 2020

Even as vehicle supply remains short and prices hit record highs, demand continues to surge in the used-car market.

TrueCar was forecasting that May’s retail used-vehicle would end up beating year-ago figures by 13% and besting April’s total by 4%.

The firm is projecting that once final numbers are tallied, there will have been 4.0 million used-car sales in May.

This would follow what was already such a strong April, a month that saw used-vehicle sales climb 69% from April 2020, according to a Cox Automotive analysis from May.

The used-vehicle SAAR for April was approximately 41.0 million, Cox said. That beat the prior-year figure of 23.6 million and the March figure of 40.5 million.

“The spring bounce we traditionally experience in used vehicles has been especially strong this year, fueled not only by tax refunds as they usually are but also by stimulus checks this year,” Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough said in a separate analysis, released May 20. “The sales pace peaked in mid-April and looks to be slowing.”

But that same analysis showed that sales were beating the pandemic-deflated year-ago period by 93%. At the end of April, sales were beating 2019 figures by 6%.

Granted, the analysis warns that the inventory shortage could lead to slower sales.

“Folks can’t buy what isn’t there,” Chesbrough said.

For now, though, the used-car market remains hot.