Franchise dealers, which include over 25 certified pre-owned programs, are estimated to sell 2.2 million certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles by the end of 2014. CPO vehicles make up about 5% of all used car sales, and about 14% of used car sales at franchised dealers. Most mainstream, mass-marketbrands now have healthy CPO programs, with fast growing brands at Kia, Subaru, Mazda, Ford, Chevrolet and GMC, helping to buoy sales. This will mark the fifth consecutive year of growth in CPO sales and marks the longest such run since the CPO market declined sharply during the recession.

Over the five year forecast, CPO sales are expected to peak in 2016, at 2.5 million units, an all-time high. The CPO market is primarily driven by the supply of late-model used vehicles, particularly off-leased vehicles, and by consumer awareness of CPO vehicles.

This report will highlight who is buying certified pre-owned vehicles and why. In addition, this report will help the reader discover which are the most sought after brands in regards to CPO, as well as the most important features, and what consumers are willing to pay for these vehicles. Additional information covered includes consumer awareness of specifics behind CPO programs, and whether or not there is a high level of consumer awareness when it comes to the differences between factory-certified pre-owned programs, which are mainly emphasized throughout this report, and dealer-run certified pre-owned programs.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Used Cars and Light Trucks – US, July 2011.

The purpose of this report is to identify the purchase behavior of people buying certified pre-owned cars. What types of vehicles they plan to purchase, which brands, and how much they expect to pay (monthly and in total), among other attributes. A certified pre-owned car is defined as any well-maintained, late-model, used vehicle which has been inspected and refurbished by its original manufacturer or dealer. Certified pre-owned vehicles typically include warranties, and other additional benefits typically available only on new cars, but this isn’t necessarily required. While this report covers some elements of dealer-certified programs, such as those offered by CarMax, the majority of the report focuses on factory-certified pre-owned programs offered by major auto manufacturers.

• Market Size and Forecast: Based on data from CNW Research

• Leading Manufacturers: Based on data from Automotive News Data Center, Autodata Corporation

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer purchase of, and attitudes and behaviors toward certified pre-owned cars. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in May 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet. For the purposes of this report, Mintel oversampled certified pre-owned vehicle purchase intenders by an additional 360 respondents.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in the survey results. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Generations, if discussed within this report, are defined as: