Used Vehicle Wholesale Prices Drop 0.2%, J.D. Power Finds

Staff Report

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

In their March 2018 Used Car and Light Truck Guidelines Industry Update, analysts at J.D. Power Valuation Services note wholesale depreciation declined by an average of 0.2 percent in February. The month's performance was better than February 2017's 0.9% decline.

Highlights from the free monthly report also point out:

  • The used vehicle price index increased

    • Index was up 0.2 points to 114.5

  • New vehicle deliveries declined

    • Sales fell in February by 2 percent; new vehicle SAAR reached 16.96M

  • Incentive spending increased

    • Incentives grew for the 35th straight month

David Paris, executive analyst at J.D. Power Valuation Services said, "The Large SUV segment experienced the largest loss on the mainstream side of the market. For the second month in a row, prices declined by 2.1%. Last year, prices for the segment fell by 1.6%, however, over the course of the past five years, prices for the group averaged a lesser 0.3%. One driver behind this is a hefty 26.7% increase in late-model auction volume year-to-date compared to 2017."