LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index fell only 1.2% year-over-year in January to a 113.1 reading for the month. The firm had expected a larger decline.
Anil Goyal, executive vice president of operations for Black Book, said the expectation was based on the lift in wholesale values due to replacement activity linked to last year’s hurricanes. Instead, Black Book saw fairly typical depreciation.
According to the firm, most vehicle segments experienced a 1% decline in wholesale values through the last 12 months. The biggest outliers were near luxury cars and luxury cars, which registered 1.8% and 1.6% depreciation, respectively.
Looking toward the next few months, Black Book is fairly optimistic about where wholesale values will be.
“We anticipate stability in the Index values over the next couple of months as the spring selling season gets underway and consumers shop with an appetite driven by the recent tax changes approved,” Goyal said.
