According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2010-2014 depreciated by just -0.1% during April, signaling what is usually the last strong month of the spring season. 

At the close of 2015, twelve-month truck depreciation was just –9.2% compared with –18.2% for cars. However, the last twelve-months of results show depreciation rising to -14.3% for trucks and -20.6% for cars. More noteworthy, the twelve-month annual depreciation shows the gap between cars and trucks narrowing. Some truck segments such as Full-Size Crossover/SUV, Full-Size Pickup and Small Pickup segments continue to show the lowest depreciation across the segments. 

Prestige Luxury Cars saw the largest segment depreciation during April at -2.2%. Vehicles in this segment include the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Lexus LS, Mercedes-Benz CLS Class, Mercedes-Benz S Class and Porsche Panamera. Vehicles in this segment finished the month with an average price of $43,616, a -18.9% change from year-ago levels ($35,389).  

In a sign of the spring season, Full-Size Cars saw the strongest retention during April at +1.3%. Vehicles in this segment include the Chevy Impala, Ford Taurus, Kia Cadenza, Nissan Maxima, Chrysler 300 and Toyota Avalon. Vehicles in this segment finished the month with an average price of $15,552, a -16.9% change from year-ago levels ($12,930). 

Eight vehicle segments, including Full-Size Cars, saw value increases during the month. Those vehicle segments were the Small Pickup Trucks, Mid-Size Cars, Full-Size Crossovers, Mid-Sized Crossovers, Sporty Cars, Sub-Compact Crossovers, and the Compact Crossovers. 

“Almost a third of all vehicle segments saw an increase in value this month but we expect this volume of segment retention to subside moving through the remainder of the year.” said Anil Goyal, Vice President of Automotive Valuation and Analytics. “As the supply levels for all used vehicles grow, we can expect to see a continued increased in overall depreciation moving forward.” 

Black Book® is best known in the automotive industry for providing timely, independent and accurate vehicle pricing information, and is available to industry-qualified users through online subscription products, mobile applications and licensing agreements. A leading provider since 1955, Black Book has continuously evolved to ensure that it achieves its goal of delivering mission-critical information to its customers, along with the insight necessary to successfully buy, sell, and lend. Black Book data is published daily by National Auto Research, a division of Hearst Business media, and the company maintains offices in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland as well as the Canadian Black Book in Toronto.