2009 total US used car retail sales results are in

by dpollak on 01/07/2010 · 8 comments

Kilowatt 300x212 2009 total US used car retail sales results are inThanks to Tom Kontos of Adesa Auto Auction, here is the breakdown of US used retail car sales in 2009:

Franchised: 12,819,758

Independent:  11,712,216

Private: 10,959,787

Total:  35,491,761

I’m curious if anyone has these same numbers for 2008.  Are they up or down by category and in total?

 Tommy Gibbs, thank you for forwarding this information to me.

Update…

Thanks to Sean Snyder at NADA, below you’ll find the table containing both the ’08 and ’09 used retail sales by category along with their variance.  As you will see, franchise dealers were off a bit, independents were almost even and the private party (casual) sales took the biggest hit.

2008                 2009           Sales Difference         % Difference

Franchised          13,189,892      12,819,758            -370,134                       -2.89

Independent      11,741,997       11,712,216             -29,781                       -0.25

Private               11,597,516       10,959,787            -637,729                       -5.82

Total                   36,529,405       35,491,761         -1,037,644                      -2.92

I’m curious what your thoughts are as to why private party/casual sales got hurt the worst in ’09.  Do you think that these people were simply too buried to get out without the help of a dealer?  The fact that independents were almost unchanged probably lends credence to Tommy Gibbs’ theory that lower price point units represent more stable and solid results.  I’d be interested in any other thoughts that you might have.

  • http://twitter.com/pcmguy Larry Bruce

    Might consider that Private sales were not hurt at all, Private stats depend on registration one individual to another. With the growth of the middle class car dealership and the struggle to get inventory, I would submit that much of the Private sales decline was the result of a sale an individual to a dealer not another individual. Just a thought

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gary-Prestopino/1638840277 Gary Prestopino

    Private party sales impacted by individuals holding on to their vehicles longer due to recession.

    As well, due to new car ownership at the expense of leasing in the earlier part of the decade from manu incentives, numbers on the private side were higher than normal from several years in the mid part of this decade.

  • http://www.dalepollak.com Dale Pollak

    Larry,

    Good thought. Thank you.

  • redmond

    Dale, I know that this last year, Santa Margarita acheived a 25% ROI on vehicles priced under10K selling price. With that kind of return, we'll be concentrating our efforts there more this year.

  • http://www.dalepollak.com Dale Pollak

    Redmond,

    Low price units is the mantra of a really smart used car consultant named Tommy Gibbs. He’s been preaching and teaching the value of driving down average unit costs, and I know it to be correct. Thanks for your note.

    Dale

  • brandonmatthews

    Allow me…

    I've discussed this in great detail with Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com. To begin with, cash for clunkers took a lot of used cars off the road in 2009.

    Secondly, pricing of new cars made buying used cars pointless. In many cases, incentives offered in 2009 made the cost of new cars lower than certified preowned vehicles.

  • Guest

    Allow me…

    I’ve discussed this in great detail with Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com. To begin with, cash for clunkers took a lot of used cars off the road in 2009.

    Secondly, pricing of new cars made buying used cars pointless. In many cases, incentives offered in 2009 made the cost of new cars lower than certified preowned vehicles.

  • http://www.shiotsu-autotrade.jp/ Used Car Japan

    This article is very informative and useful. Buyers prefer to buy from these type of auctions for the lower price.

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