Depreciation Picks Up Steam in May, Black Book Reports
After showing strong retention in April, compact SUVs exit May with the highest depreciation. The firm expects the annual vehicle depreciation rate to come in at 14.5%, which would sit just below the pre-recession range of 15% to 18%.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — According to Black Book, used vehicles for model years 2009-2013 depreciated 1.2% from April to May. Values for used domestics also declined 1.4% during the same time period, while values for used imports, domestic truck and import trucks depreciated 2%, 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.
The firm expects the annual depreciation rate to come in at 14.5%, putting the 2015 rate just below the prerecession range of between 15% and 18%.
Looking at May changes, compact SUVs, which finished with the strongest retention in April, depreciated 3.6%. Vehicles in this segment, which finished the month off with an average price of $24,129 — a 3.9% decrease from a year ago — include the Jeep Wrangler and the Nissan Xterra.
The segment showing the strongest retention in May was the compact pickup category, which saw values rise 1%. The average price for this segment, which includes vehicles like the Nissan Frontier, Mazda Pickup, Ford Ranger and the Toyota Tacoma, fell 4.5% from a year ago to $18,290.
Seven of the top nine largest depreciating segments were cars, including upper mid-size (depreciated 2.9%); entry-level (depreciated 2.8%); entry mid-size (depreciated 2.6%); compact (depreciated 2.4%); prestige luxury (depreciated 1.7%); luxury (depreciated 1.6%); and full-size (depreciated 1.4%).
Premium sporty car finished the month with the best retention rate, which remained unchanged from April. Vehicles in this segment include the BMW 6-Series, Mercedes-Benz CL Class, Porsche Panamera, Audi S8/R8, and Cadillac XLR. The average price for the segment fell 13.3% from a year ago to $39,297.
“The month of May saw a noticeable swing from beginning to end, and while overall depreciation finished at just 1.2%, the end of the month started to pick up steam,” said Anil Goyal, vice president of automotive valuation and analytics for Black Book. “We anticipate June will show the beginning of summer seasonal patterns, with many vehicles showing ‘no sales’ at auctions due to lower buyer demand.”
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