Certified pre-owned (CPO) sales reached 216,957 units in October, reflecting a 5% month-over-month decrease and a 7% year-over-year decrease. Despite a slowing sales pace, CPO continues its strong performance in October as an important part of the used-vehicle market recovery.

With 2,380,337 units sold through October, year-to-date CPO sales are up 9% compared to the same period last year and up 2% compared to 2019, and down 6% compared to October 2019.

With two months left in 2021, reaching the revised Cox Automotive CPO sales forecast of 2.70 million units – and possibly matching the 2.80 million record-setting 2019 level – remains within reach.

According to Cox Automotive estimates, total used-vehicle sales were down 10% year over year in October. October used seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) is estimated to be 35.9 million, down from 39.9 million last October and flat compared to September’s 35.9 million SAAR. The October used retail SAAR estimate is 19.6 million, down from 21.1 million last year and flat month over month.