Soaring commercial consignor volumes continue to drive overall auction sales, which climbed slightly from year-ago figures in June and are up 8% through the first half of the year.

That’s according to AuctionNet data from the National Auto Auction Association provided to Auto Remarketing on Friday.

There were 521,978 units sold at auto auctions in June, which is up 1.4% year-over-year but close to a 14% month-over-month decrease, NAAA said.

Why? Last month had two fewer selling days than either than either June 2023 or May, the association noted.

So, when adjusted for selling days, auction sales in June climbed 11.5% year-over-year and fell 5% month-over-month.  Breaking it down by consignor type, commercial volume climbed 29% year-over-year in June and dealer volume climbed 2% (both figures adjusted for selling days).

Breaking down the June data by segment (unadjusted for selling days), compact luxury crossovers/SUVs had the largest year-over-year increase in volume (up 17.7%), followed by midsize crossovers/SUVs (up 9.7%).

Compact cars (down 9.3%) and midsize cars (down 6.5%) were the only two segments to show declines in June.

Compact crossovers/SUV volumes were up 5.5%, full-size pickups were up 1.4%, luxury cars climbed 0.3%, and midsize luxury crossovers/SUVs were up 6.4%.

Meantime, there were 9,501 auction sales of electric vehicles in June, which is up 89.5% year-over-year, NAAA said. Adjusted for selling days, their volume was up 108%.

 Year-to-date numbers

There were 3.41 million units sold at auction in the first half of the year, which is an 8% hike, NAAA said. Commercial volume has climbed 28.7% year-to-date and dealer volume is down 4.2% from the year-ago period.

Breaking down the year-to-date data by age group, older vehicles have been leading the charge. Auction sales of vehicles 11 years and older climbed 11% in the first half of 2024, according to NAAA.

There was a 9% year-to-date increase in sales volumes for vehicles up to 3 years old, while sales of 4- to 6-year-old vehicles are up 4%. There has been an 8% rise in volumes for vehicles 7 to 10 years old.

AuctionNet data indicates auctions have sold than 51,300 EVs year-to-date, which beats first-half 2023 numbers by 97%.

Over half of that volume (57%) is from Tesla. Closest behind is Chevrolet and Nissan, which combine for a 16% share.

Note: This is part of a monthly series in which Auto Remarketing shares AuctionNet data and commentary provided by the National Auto Auction Association.

As noted by the organization, more than 260 NAAA member auctions power AuctionNet, making it the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S. Unless otherwise noted, auction sales figures are based on total reporting auctions, the number and composition of which may vary over time. 

AuctionNet® Wholesale Auction Results
June-24
Total Unit Sales
Jun-23 Jun-24 % Change
Overall Market 514,883 521,978 1.4%
Compact Car 58,776 53,327 -9.3%
Compact Crossover/SUV 72,542 76,524 5.5%
Compact Luxury Crossover/SUV 10,131 11,924 17.7%
Full-Size Pickup 65,562 66,451 1.4%
Luxury Car 29,312 29,411 0.3%
Mid-Size Car 64,047 59,857 -6.5%
Mid-Size Crossover/SUV 71,306 78,215 9.7%
Mid-Size Luxury Crossover/SUV 17,144 18,244 6.4%
Electric Vehicles 5,013 9,501 89.5%

SOURCE: AuctionNet/National Auto Auction Association