Certified preowned auto sales ticked up again in February, though Cox Automotive analysts still expect an annual drop again this year.

Month-over-month CPO sales rose about 2% for the month, Cox said, to end at nearly 206,000 units. That’s up 7.3% year-over-year.

“Our initial forecast was for CPO sales to fall a bit this year, but the numbers are not supporting that drop,” said Cox Senior Director of Economic and Industry Insights Charlie Chesbrough.

“CPO sales are up nearly 14%, meaning almost 50,000 more CPO units have been sold in the first two months of the year compared to the same time in 2022. With younger off-lease units in short supply, automakers are expanding their CPO programs to include older vehicles. As a result, the CPO sales pace so far this year is running hotter than expected.”

Toyota enjoyed the greatest CPO sales volume for the month among the biggest brands, while Honda and Hyundai posted the biggest year-over-year increases, followed by Ford.

Annual CPO sales fell 10% last year, and Cox forecasts an 11% fall this year to 2.2 million units, the weakest volume in 10 years. But looking at the sales pace for the first two months, Cox indicated it will take another look at its forecast at first quarter’s end to decide if an upward revision makes sense.

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