As CNW Research has been predicting for some time, Private Party sales — used cars for sale by owners — are starting to see a turnaround. Sales rose 8.75% to 960,804 units during March 2013 over March 2012. However, prices were down from $7,473 to $6,939. That’s a decline of about 7% in pricing; sales volume was up a bit higher, so it was still an upward trend for Private Party, which had seen sales drop for several months.
Total retail used vehicles sales climbed up 11.16% in March with 3,006,892 units sold compared to 2,705,113 a year ago. Franchised used vehicles sales were up quite a bit – at 1,086,156 units up 17.34% over a year ago; independents saw volume go up 7.14% to 959,931 units.
Core transaction prices including aftermarket products are added (excluding loan interest) slipped slightly to $12,715 from last year’s $12,789 for Franchised dealers. Independent dealers had an experience closer to Private Party, with an average price of $6,765 from $7,188 a year ago.
