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Certified Used Car Market Remains Mixed


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Washington DC December 10, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that fresh off of its toughest month in almost four years, conditions in the certified pre-owned industry didn't improve much from October, as the market faced the toughest November for CPO sales since 2003.

However, some automakers continue to forge ahead and saw strong results. According to Autodata Corp., overall certified sales were 120,927 units, relatively unchanged from October and a 5-percent decline from a year ago.

Yearly sales remained somewhat steady, as they are down just 0.1 percent from 2007. Similar to last month, domestics continue to be hit the hardest, as their CPO market share dipped 2 percentage points to 44.1 percent.

Meanwhile, European brands rose moderately (1.6 points) to 17.6 percent, while Asian nameplates improved 0.4 points to 38.3 percent. Nissan, for example, had another solid CPO month, as it moved 5,614 units, a 22.8-percent improvement from last November. Yearly sales are 59,826, an 11.2-percent spike from a year ago.

According to Auto Remarketing, the Nissan division sold 4,740 CPO models during the month, representing an 8.2-percent year-over-year improvement.

Meanwhile, Infiniti showed a 325-percent surge, as its dealers sold 874 certified models.

For more on what brands are leading the CPO market, and why, click here.