Lexus driving up market for off-lease vehicles

Luxury manufacturer Lexus is seeking to cash in on the growing number of off-lease vehicles coming onto to the market, with a new branding campaign designed to encourage consumers to consider certified pre-owned vehicles.

The manufacturer rebadged its Lexus Certified program as L/Certified about two months ago, general manager Jeff Bracken said. The program also got a new logo and supporting ad campaign.

“Even though the volume is greater, it is good profit,” Bracken said. “Dealers see it as a profit opportunity as opposed to a problem.”

Figures from J D Power and Associates suggest that Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) sales in the US totaled 2,326,372 units in November, up 8.7% from the year-earlier period and close to the total for 2014.

The data indicates that the total number of vehicles coming off-lease grew by 4%, or nearly 95,000 units, to 2.3 million, in 2015 and is set to climb higher over the next two years.

Lexus says it expects a record-breaking 119,562 off-lease units to return to the market in 2016, up from an estimated 88,518 for 2015. The company says the rebrand of its CPO program is in response to this, as a way of creating excitement in the marketplace.