Canadian Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index reached an all-time high in September with 109 points — up 1.6 points from August, demonstrating a “dramatic” rebound of used car values that started when COVID-19 lockdown measures were eased.
“The surge in demand, combined with a widespread shortage of vehicles, have boosted the index to this new record high,” said CBB in its report.
The September record represents a 1.5 per cent gain from the previous month, and a 0.7 per cent gain (0.8 index points) year-over-year. CBB said the index has now regained whatever it had lost since February due to the impact of the pandemic.
“In September, many segments are still in the recovery phase from the value decline which began in February,” said CBB. “The index fell during that period by 7.8 index points or 7.2 per cent of its value, which was a remarkable and unprecedented decline in wholesale values, a record month-over-month loss at the time.”
In September, the luxury car segment garnered the largest gain with 4.7 index points over the last month. The compact luxury CUV/SUV segment came in second with an increase of 4.5 points, followed by sports cars (up 3.7 index points).
The segments that lost value did so only slightly; the largest decrease in values from August came from the premium sports car segment (down 0.6 index points), while minivans were down 0.3 points, and subcompact cars were down 0.2 points.
When considering the most significant gains in the segment from a year earlier, full-size crossover SUVs and subcompact cars were each up 8.2 points, followed by the full-size car segment with an increase of 7.4 points.
A YOY comparison also shows that full-size luxury CUV/SUVs declined by 7.5 index points, and small pickup trucks were down 4.4 index points. The Compact car segment was down 1.4 points.
