CNW: February's Amount of Subprime Used-Vehicle Buyers Climbs 53.2 Percent Year-Over-Year

By Nick Zulovich, Editor
March 04, 2013

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BANDON, Ore. — It is appearing to be a successful tax season for dealers if the February data from CNW Research is any indication.

CNW said the number of subprime buyers of used vehicles soared 53.2 percent in February versus the same month a year ago while purchasers with FICO scores below 550 is up 48.3 percent year-over-year.

Of all used-car sales, the firm determined 15.6 percent of buyers fell into the bucket of deep subprime in February. A year ago, that level came in at 11 percent.

The climb within subprime helped to push total used-vehicle sales higher by 4.53 percent. CNW tallied up 2.08 million used vehicle units sold in February, up from 1.99 million during the same month last year.

CNW discovered that franchised dealers posted an 11.65 percent gain in used-vehicle sales last month, turning 747,534 units versus 660,543 a year ago.

Analysts found independent dealers enjoyed a lift, too, but not as much as their franchised counterparts. CNW said independent lots moved 699,065 units in February, an increase of 4.43 percent from the 669,420 vehicles they sold a year ago.

Again, CNW spotted a decrease in private party sales as they slipped 2.67 percent to 636,019 transactions in February, down from 653,460 units a year earlier.

The firm calculated that core used transaction prices including aftermarket products but excluding loan interest jumped 4.01 percent to $12,605 for franchised dealers. However, transaction prices at independent dealerships slipped 2.87 percent in February to $6,939 from $7,144.

Meanwhile, CNW determined private party transaction prices declined 15.77 percent last month, dropping to $6,939 from $8,238.

Analysts said the reason for the private party drop was "on the back of significantly higher numbers of older models being sold. Also responsible for much of the decline is fewer aftermarket products (extended warranties, for example) being sold."

CNW determined the total value of all used sales in February inched up 1.21 percent to $18.5 billion from $18.3 billion.

Because of a growing number of off-lease vehicles, the firm also highlighted used sales of units from one to five years old are up 5.8 percent.

Finally, CNW said the number of used-vehicle shoppers remained virtually unchanged from a year ago with 5.56 million shoppers this year versus 5.58 million a year earlier.

Nick Zulovich can be reached at nzulovich@subprimenews.com. Continue the conversation with SubPrime Auto Finance News on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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