Driven By Value And Demand, Car Segments See Majority of Increases

Black Book, a division of Hearst that provides industry-leading used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions, released its Used Vehicle Retention Index for November (116.5), a 0.2% gain from the previous month (116.3), and the Index has now increased for each of the last seven months. Click here to obtain a copy of the latest index data.

The continued strength of the used vehicle market has pushed the Index into positive territory dating back to May (112.0). What’s more, the Index has only seen a monthly decline in just one month this year, when the Index registered 113.3 in February and fell to 112.0 in March.

The segments with the highest month-over-month gains in the Retention Index were:

• Mid-size Luxury Crossover/SUV:          +0.8%
• Sub-compact Car:                                  +0.6%
• Mid-size Car:                                        +0.5%
• Premium Sporty Car:                             +0.5%
• Luxury Car:                                          +0.4%

“Cars and sedans continue to outperform many truck segments in the Index, as many used car models offer great value for shoppers looking for affordable alternatives to new cars that are offered at high sticker prices with increasing interest rates,” said Anil Goyal, Executive Vice President, Operations. “December is always an interesting month as aggressive deals are offered to reach year-end sales goals, but by January we will again begin to prepare for the spring tax-selling season.”

The Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index is calculated using Black Book’s published Wholesale Average value on two- to six-year-old used vehicles, as percent of original typically-equipped MSRP. It is weighted based on registration volume and adjusted for seasonality, vehicle age, mileage, and condition. The Index offers an accurate, representative, and unbiased view of the strength of today’s used vehicle market values.

The Index dates to January 2005, where Black Book published a benchmark index value of 100.0 for the market. During 2008, the index dropped by 14.1% while during 2016, the index fell by just 6.4%. During 2011, the index rose strongly from 113.3 to 123.0 by the end of the year as the economy picked up steam and used vehicle values rose higher. It continued to remain relatively stable, rising slightly until May of 2014 when it hit a peak of 128.1.

To obtain a copy of the latest Black Book Wholesale Value Index, please click here. 

About Black Book

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. 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, and the company maintains offices in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland as well as the Canadian Black Book in Toronto. For more information, please visit BlackBook.com or call 800.554.1026.