U.S. used truck and car segments finished the week off with nearly the same declines as observed during the first week of January 2019.
“Lower floors at the start of the new year have kept the inventory moving faster; we are seeing higher sales rates but lower prices at the auctions,” said Anil Goyal, Executive Vice President, Operations, for Black Book.
Volume-weighted, overall car segment values dropped 0.74% ($75) last week. In comparison, the previous four-week period experienced a 0.64% decrease in market values. Luxury Car and Sports Car segments saw the largest declines.
Values for the volume-weighted overall truck segment, which includes pickups, SUVs, and vans, decreased by 0.75% ($115) last week. This compares to the 0.53% average decline that occurred during the previous four-week period. Subcompact Crossovers took the biggest hit.
“Floors were down regardless of vehicle condition or model year, so the buyers felt they were paying fair prices for vehicles,” said one industry observer, Israel, from Georgia.
As for the Used Vehicle Retention Index, it finished the 2018 year with an increase of +1.9% compared with 2017. Black Book describes this as the largest year-over-year increase for the Index since 2012. During that time, the Index jumped 3.5% compared with 2011.
