Wholesale Truck Values Continue to Thrive, Luxury Cars Struggle

The truck segment outperformed cars and luxury car depreciation rates remained high last week, according to Black Book’s Feb. 20 Market Insights report.

Volume-weighted, average car wholesale values depreciated by 0.46% last week, more than double the depreciation rate of 0.22% the segment saw the week prior. Mid-size cars, prestige luxury cars and premium sporty cars experienced the highest depreciation rates at 0.82%, 0.58% and 0.58%, respectively. Compact cars experienced the lowest depreciation rate of 0.25%.

“The market sentiment in auction lanes remains optimistic. Luxury vehicles show higher depreciation than mainstream brands,” said Anil Goyal, senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics.

Volume-weighted, overall truck segment wholesale values decreased by 0.27% last week, better than the depreciation rate of 0.36% the segment saw the week before. Full-size crossovers/SUVs and full-size pickups realized the highest depreciation rates of 0.44% and 0.38%, respectively. Sub-compact crossovers and compact vans were flat last week.

Looking at last month’s depreciation trends by segment: full-size pickups, small pickups, mid-size cars, and full-size crossovers/SUVs were the month’s best-performing segments. All four of those segments shared the month’s lowest depreciation rate of 1.1%.  Premium sporty cars, prestige luxury cars, near luxury cars and luxury cars had the month’s  highest depreciation rates of 2.8%, 2.8%, 2.4%, and 2.3%, respectively.