Wholesale vehicle auction sales totaled just over 577,200 units in April, down 1% versus March but up a robust 14.7% versus April 2023, according to the latest monthly report from AuctionNet.

Collectively, AuctionNet sales totaled nearly 2.28 million units over the first four months of the year, up 9% versus the same period in 2023.

Total sales were the highest recorded for the four months since 2019 when volume reached 2.9 million units.

Compared to March, total dealer sales fell 4% in April while fleet/lease sales were up 5%.

Year-to-date, dealer sales are down 4% while fleet/lease sales of vehicles up to five-years-old are up nearly 32%.

Activity Rises Across the Vehicle Spectrum

Report highlights broken down by vehicle types and categories show the following results:

• Three-year-old vehicles, which include a heavy mix of off-lease units, spearheaded April’s fleet/lease rise as volume for the age group jumped 12% versus March

• Sales of 1-to-2-year-old and 4-to-5-year-old vehicles grew by 1% and 5%, respectively.

• Crossover/SUV sales grew an average of 11% month-over-month in April, and there were nearly 80% more fleet/lease sales for the group compared to last April.

• Pickup and luxury car sales were also up substantially year-over-year, growing by an average of 47%.

• Mainstream car and van volume grew a lesser 12% compared to April 2023.

Electric Vehicle Fleet Sales Surge 

Fleet/lease sales of electric vehicles exceeded 4,300 units in April, pushing their year-to-date tally to nearly 15,500 units – +162% versus the first four months of 2023.

• With sales totaling 8,860 units, Tesla models have been responsible for the bulk of EV fleet/lease sales YTD.

• Chevrolet was a distant second place with 1,850 EV sales. 

Monthly AuctionNet data is derived from 265 NAAA member auctions that use AuctionNet. It is considered the most comprehensive source of wholesale auto auction sales data in the U.S.