Wholesale auction sales exceeded 652,000 vehicles in April, an increase of 12.6% compared to last year — the highest sales performance of any month in absolute terms since July 2020’s total of 686,800 vehicles, according to monthly figures released by AuctionNet on May 12.

Wholesale auction sales during the first four months of the year totaled 2.45 million vehicles, up 8.1% versus 2024’s year-to-date total (selling day adjusted).

Newer Vehicles Drive Up Sales 

Dealer sales increased more than 17% year over year, spearheading the rise in auction volume last month. April’s rate of growth was the biggest recorded for dealer sales in more than a year and a half.

Given the outsized improvement in new vehicle sales that occurred in March and April in response to tariff-related increases in new vehicle prices, it’s likely that consumer trade-ins were responsible for last month’s improvement in dealer auction sales.

Commercial auction sales volume grew 10.8% overall compared to last April. Like in March, commercial sales growth was mostly due to a more than 30% year-over-year increase in 1-to-2-year-old vehicle sales, which included a heavy mix of off-rental units. Aligning with the anticipated decline in off-lease volume, three-year-old auction sales fell nearly 8% last month compared to April 2024, while sales of 4-to-5-year-old vehicles dropped 5%.

Other vehicle categories showed: 

• Mainstream car sales (i.e., compact and mid-size cars) tumbled 8.6% in April on a prior-year basis

• Full-size pickup and van sales increased by an average of 15.7%. 

• Year-to-date, mainstream utility sales are up 11.4%

• Sales of more affordable mainstream cars are down 9.3%.

EVs Once Again Set Auction Sales Record 

Total electric vehicle auction sales hit an all-time high of 12,400 units in March, but the record was short-lived as sales in April exceeded 15,600 units (with 82% of sales coming from EVs up to 5 years old). 

EV sales in April were 74.1% higher than in April 2024 and 20.2% higher than in March, with Tesla vehicles being the main catalyst behind the increases (e.g., Tesla sales grew by 2,330 units month-over-month in April, +32%). 

As for prices, EV auction prices fell in April versus March, with Tesla prices dropping by an average of 4%. By comparison, auction prices overall rose 2% compared to March.

Monthly AuctionNet data is derived from 265 National Auto Auction Association member auctions that use AuctionNet, and is considered the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S.