MARKHAM, Ontario -

Several brands posted all-time records for certified pre-owned sales in Canada last month, as March proved to be rather fruitful for most automakers reporting CPO sales to Auto Remarketing Canada.

Over at Honda Canada, for instance, both its Acura and Honda brands enjoyed their best months of all time for certified sales.

The flagship brand posted 2,201 CPO sales in March, up from 1,788 certified sales in the year-ago time frame. Acura increased its CPO sales from 260 units to 377 vehicles.

Year-to-date, the Honda brand has sold 5,322 CPO vehicles, which is up 26 percent from the first quarter of last year. Meanwhile, Acura has moved 945 CPO units for a 50-percent gain.

“Honda and Acura, for the month of March, both achieved the highest certified sales month in the history of the certified programs,” stated Todd Fowler, manager of used vehicle operations at Honda Canada.

“This growth in certified sales has already seen us surpass our previous year’s sales by 26 percent for Honda and 50 percent for Acura,” he continued. “We are very proud of our dealer networks for achieving this level of growth and for elevating the certified brands.”

Likewise, for Mercedes-Benz Canada, its pre-owned division posted its strongest month on record, as well, moving 1,435 units for a 28.6-percent gain. Through the first quarter, it has moved 3,263 pre-owned units for a 35.4-percent hike.

Toyota Certified Used Vehicles also had its strongest month ever in Canada, selling 2,574 units during March up from 1,960 CPO sales in March 2011.
Year-to-date, sales have reached 5,936 units for a 23.8-percent increase.

Continuing on, Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. moved 103 certified units in March, compared to 57 CPO sales in March 2011 (which was the month prior to its CPO program’s re-launch).

It sold 279 certified units in the first quarter, versus 160 in the same period of 2011.

“Our pre-owned sales have consistently and substantially improved each and every month since the launch of our industry-leading CPO program last April,” stated Emanuel Lichtinshtein, national fleet sales, CPO & remarketing manager Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. “March witnessed a significant increase which we expect to continue as the program continues to gain exposure.”

Next up was Volkswagen Canada, which sold 1,089 certified vehicles in March. This compares to 973 CPO sales in the same month of 2011. Year-to-date, CPO sales have reached 2,782 units, up from 2,385 certified sales in the first quarter of 2011.

Audi Canada moved 374 CPO units last month, up from 369 in March 2011. The company sold 926 certified vehicles in the first quarter, compared to 874 CPO sales in the same period of 2011.

“Our dealerships are doing a great job at continuing to grow the certified pre-owned business despite a decline in off-lease vehicles,” said certified pre-owned sales specialist Rebecca Thompson.

At Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., the company achieved certified sales of 1,253 units and has moved 2,981 CPO vehicles in the first three months of 2012.

Hyundai sold 84 certified vehicles in the first quarter of 2011 and 45 of those sales occurred in March.

Kia Canada moved 267 CPO units in March for a 36.2-percent hike. Through the end of the first quarter it has moved 717 certified vehicles for a 54.5-percent gain.

At BMW Group Canada, the BMW division sold 1,035 pre-owned units (down 12.4 percent) and the Mini division sold 135 pre-owned vehicles (down 52.6 percent).

Subaru Canada posted 29 certified sales in March for a 52.6-percent gain. First-quarter CPO sales reached 80 vehicles for a 21.6-percent hike.