CARY, N.C. -

As automakers in Canada begin to share certified pre-owned sales results from April, one trend has emerged: it was a strong month, despite challenges stemming from lockdowns. 

For instance, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. had its strongest April of all time for certified pre-owned — which also was its second-best CPO sales tally ever — even amid partial lockdowns in certain provinces.

More specifically, it moved 1,344 certified vehicles last month.

“April felt like a very challenging month with Ontario and Quebec going back into a partial lockdown halfway through the month,” said Charles Plewes, Hyundai Canada’s manager of CPO and remarketing, in emailed comments.

“Despite these challenges, and bolstered by a very strong used-car market, Hyundai’s H-Promise CPO dealers managed to record our best April ever, outpacing a mark set way back in 2013 by 22%,” he said. “With 1,344 sales, April 2021 is also our second-best sales month of all time.  With more dealers than ever participating in the program, we plan to continue this success going forward.”

Next up, Nissan moved 1,017 CPO units in Canada last month, up a whopping 558% from the 182 certified sales in April 2020. Certified sales are up 4% year-to-date, with 3,335 units sold.

Infiniti had 169 certified sales for the month, up from 32 in April 2020. Year-to-date sales have climbed 17%, with 517 CPO vehicles sold.

“April reflected a rebound in business, fairly consistent with March results,” said Joel Gregory, who heads up CPO for Nissan and Infiniti in Canada, in emailed comments. “Lockdowns in Ontario and Quebec partially explain why this area of the country didn’t reach its full potential.”

Over at Subaru Canada, CPO sales climbed from 107 a year ago to 429 in the most recent month. Through four months of 2021, Subaru has sold 1,498 certified vehicles, up from 964 a year ago.

This story will be updated as additional results are reported.