2009 total US used car retail sales results are in

Thanks 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.