DETROIT -- Two years ago, Fiat Chrysler retooled its certified used-vehicle program.
It simplified the warranty, built in more opportunities for dealers to sell extended service plans and expanded its field team that calls on dealers.
The changes are paying off, said Eric Swanson, FCA US senior manager of certified pre-owned vehicle sales.
The company added about 150 dealers to the CPO fold in 2014, for a total of 1,404, and expects to add 100 or more this year. The automaker had 2,408 dealerships in the U.S. as of Jan. 1.
Sales of certified used Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brand vehicles in February rose a collective 25 percent to 14,416, a monthly record. In the first two months of the year, FCA increased its sales of certified used vehicles 23 percent to 27,358.
"Usually in January and February, we're just starting to ramp up and it's snowy, but we just blasted our numbers out of the water" in February, Swanson said. "Over-all, we're targeting growth every year."
The industry increased its sales of certified used vehicles in the first two months 14 percent to 392,419. It sold 197,549 certified used vehicles in February, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
To qualify for certification under FCA's program, vehicles must be five model years old or newer and have fewer than 75,000 miles on their odometers.