Commercial consignment is not only driving up overall wholesale auction sales, but also commanding a greater share of the overall market.

That’s according to AuctionNet data from the National Auto Auction Association shared with Auto Remarketing.

Through May, there have been 2.89 million vehicles sold at auction this year, which beats year-ago figures by 9%, NAAA said.

That increase is attributed entirely to gains in commercial volume: through five months, there has been a 31% spike in commercial sales at auction and a 3% drop in dealer sales.

Commercial volume is grabbing a larger slice of the pie, too.

“The dealer-versus-commercial sales ratio stood at 54%-to-46% at the end of May, which compares to 61% and 39% for the same period last year,” NAAA vice president of Auction Data Solutions/AuctionNet Larry Dixon said in the report’s commentary.

Another rapid growth segment in the auction lanes: electric vehicles.

EV sales at auction have nearly doubled this year, with close to 42,000 EVs moved through five months, a 98% uptick, NAAA said.

There were 9,585 auction sales of EVs in May alone, a 118.6% increase.

Overall wholesale auction sales in May came in at 606,075 units, up 11.9% year-over-year. That beat April figures by 5%, NAAA said.

Commercial sales climbed 33% year-over-year in May and dealer sales dropped 1%. Month-over-month, commercial sales climbed 6% in May and dealer sales were up 4%.

Breaking it down by segment, compact car volume was up 0.3% year-over-year in May, while compact crossover/SUV sales were up 18.8%. Compact luxury crossover/SUV volume rose 34.1%, full-size pickups were up 8.7% and luxury cars climbed 10.1%.

Midsize car volume rose 4.6%, midsize crossover/SUV volumes jumped 21.4% and midsize luxury crossover/SUV sales were up 20.6%.

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. 

SOURCE: AuctionNet