CarMax says tariff fears juiced used car demand in April

Driving the news: CarMax reported Friday that it sold 9% more used vehicles to retail customers in the most recent quarter than it did a year earlier, leading to a 7.5% rise in retail revenue.
Tariffs may have played a part. CEO William Nash noted a demand uptick correlated to tariff speculation, with April coming in as the strongest month in the company's quarter — but stressed the business was already growing before that.
Between the lines: Nash acknowledged that car shoppers are worried about price hikes and the resumption of federal student loan obligations. About 30% of the company's customers have student loans.
"But I don't think it's necessarily showed up so much in the buying habits at this point," he said in terms of pricing.
CarMax shares closed up 6.6% Friday on the report.
Zoom out: Industrywide, wholesale used vehicle prices — the cars sold to other dealers — rose 1.7% from May through the first half of June, according to Cox Automotive's Manheim Used Vehicle Index.
The bottom line: Tariffs haven't warped the used car economy ... at least not yet.

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