Edmunds forecasts used vehicle sales will set record in 2019

Edmunds analysts expects 2019 used vehicle sales to reach its highest level since the recession. The car shopping experts forecast used vehicle sales could approach 41 million, which is higher than the used vehicles sold in 2018 of 40.2 million.

“Typically sales of new and used vehicles follow the same pattern — if sales of new vehicles rise or fall, so do sales of used vehicles, and vice versa,” said Ivan Drury, Edmunds' senior manager of industry analysis. “But now we're seeing new vehicle sales fall while used rise, indicating the market has reached a flash point. New cars are getting so expensive that they're out of reach for many car shoppers, but there are so many more affordable used vehicles coming off lease that the market is naturally shifting in that direction.”

Report shows that new car interest rates went up by 17 percent last year, compared with rates for used vehicles which only increased by 9 percent for the same year.

Additionally, the car shopper experts’ study revealed that the price difference between new and 3-year-old used vehicles in 2013 was 56 percent, totaling to over $11,000 in savings on average. However, that the gap widened to 62 percent in 2018, amounting to almost $14,000 in savings on average.