LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Retention values held relatively strong in February, with small pickups leading the way, Black Book reported this week. But cars also showed retention strength during a month in which the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2011-2015 depreciated by 0.8%.
Cars overall depreciated 0.8%, while trucks depreciated 0.7%. All vehicles are averaging a 12-month depreciation change of 17.9%, the firm said.
Small pickups, a category that includes the Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline, preformed the best, with the segment’s value increasing 0.2%. Vehicles in this category also ended last month with an average segment price of $19,138. They also managed to retain their value the best compared to year-ago levels, only depreciating 7.1% from 2016’s value of $20,597.
Two segments saw a monthly depreciation of 1.8% in February — the highest depreciation for the month. Those segments include premium sporty cars and mid-size luxury CUV/SUV.
Premium Sporty Cars finished the month of February with a value of $38,039, a 19.5% decrease from last year’s value of $47,239. Vehicles in this segment include the BMW 6-Series, Chevrolet Corvette, Jaguar F-Type and the Lexus RC350. Mid-size luxury CUV/SUVs ended last month with an average segment value of $21,479, a 20.1% decrease from year-ago levels ($25,869). Vehicles in this segment include the Buick Enclave, Infiniti QX60, Land Rover LR4 and the Lincoln MKX.
Prestige Luxury Cars had the steepest decline in value from a year ago. The segment, which ended February with an average value of $37,294, saw a 25.6% drop in price from a year ago ($50,115). Vehicles in the Prestige Luxury Car category include the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Lexus LS 460, Audi A8 and the Jaguar XJ.
"Vehicle retention values have held relatively strong for the second month in a row this year, except for some luxury segments," said Anil Goyal, senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics at Black Book. "Consumer confidence scored above the expected rate for February, and this, coupled with the tax rebate season, could be having a positive influence on the retention of vehicle values since there are more sales of smaller vehicles taking place.”
