Sales of certified used vehicles in the first half of 2004 surpassed year-ago levels. But sales were down for some major automakers.
The industry sold 785,353 certified used vehicles in the first six months of the year. That was 5.3 percent more than in the first half of 2003. There were 136,105 certified sales in June, 10.1 percent more than in June 2003.
General Motors' GM Certified brand sold 37,471 cars and light trucks in June. That was 22.2 percent more than it sold in June 2003. Its January-through-June sales of 217,646 vehicles represented a 10.5 percent increase over the same period last year.
The GM Certified brand includes Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile and Pontiac used vehicles. Cadillac, Saab and Saturn have separate certified programs.
The Chrysler group sold 50,084 certified used Chrysler brand, Dodge and Jeep vehicles in the first half of 2004. That was 12.7 percent above year-ago sales. The group sold 7,756 certified vehicles in June, 8.7 percent more than in June 2003.
Some major automakers' certified sales slowed in the second quarter of 2004. Industry totals of certified sales in April and May were below those of the same months in 2003.
Sales rebounded in June for some of those companies. But their six-month totals of certified sales still were below those of the year-ago period.
Toyota Division says it is experiencing a shortage of certified used vehicles. Its January-through-June certified sales declined by 4.1 percent from the first half of 2003, to 116,459 vehicles. The company sold 18,600 certified vehicles in June, a 3.8 decline from June 2004.
Ford Motor Co. reports combined certified sales by the Ford Division, Lincoln and Mercury. Sales for those brands totaled 16,663 vehicles in June. That was 5.8 percent more than in June 2003. But Ford's domestic brands sold 84,060 certified used vehicles in the first half of the year, 6.5 percent below the same period in 2003.
Honda Division sold 82,059 certified used cars and light trucks in the first half. That was down 6.5 percent from the year-ago period. Honda's June total of 14,237 certified used-vehicles sales was 2.6 percent ahead of June 2003 sales.
