In August Canadian Black Book saw its Used Vehicle Retention Index decrease marginally to 138.1, which is 0.4 less than the prior month’s 138.5.
The August index represents a 0.3 per cent decrease month-over-month, and a 1.5 per cent increase year-over-year as August 2024’s index was 136.0, according to CBB’s update. That figure is the same as September and October 2024’s index, which CBB will draw comparisons to in its next reports.
“Economic pressures continue to push vehicle retention downward as demand decreases,” said David Robins, Senior Manager and Head of Canadian Vehicle Valuations at CBB, in a statement. “Interest rates have remained steady on both sides of the border leading to a more (cautious) position (from) both vehicle exporters and domestic purchasers.”
CBB said its Wholesale Used Vehicle Retention Index was created to provide an accurate and unbiased view of the strength of used vehicle wholesale market values. The index is calculated using the company’s published Wholesale Average value on two- to six-year-old used vehicles, as a percent of the original typically-equipped MSRP.
The index covers as far back as January 2005, back when CBB published a benchmark index value of 100.0 for the market.
