Used vehicle sales were up nearly 3.2 million units in February.
The 3 percent rise from February 2022 put the used vehicle market on an annual rate of 35.5 million, according to new numbers from Cox Automotive.
“Used-vehicle sales have shown surprising strength to start 2023, perhaps due to high prices and weak inventory in the new-vehicle market continuing to push some vehicle buyers into the used market.”
Charles Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive
“Used-vehicle sales have shown surprising strength to start 2023, perhaps due to high prices and weak inventory in the new-vehicle market continuing to push some vehicle buyers into the used market,” said Charles Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive in a press release. “And, used retail prices have weakened in recent months, suggesting deals were being made. So far in March, data suggest that demand is losing momentum, with average tax refunds lower than last year, used retail prices increasing and interest rates continuing to rise. Meanwhile, used-vehicle supply remains very tight, so used prices will likely climb more, which could further impact demand.”
With interest rates increasing to 10.26 percent, the average monthly payment topped $526, according shared in Experian’s State of Automotive Finance Market Fourth Quarter report.
The average payment was up $11 from the third quarter, even though the amount financed was down $766 to $27,768.
The Cox Automotive report showed retail sales around 1.7 million for February, a year-over-year increase of 3.5 percent.
The annual pace for retail sales was down from January to 18.8 million.
The annual forecast from Cox released in early January expected total sales for used vehicles to be down 1 percent from 2022, with a total of 35.6 million.
