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Cars Outpace Trucks in Lost Value

Black Book’s latest Market Insights Report finds used cars continue to depreciate faster than light trucks, but strong incentives for new cars indicate sustained demand for some types.

Tariq Kamal
Tariq KamalFormer Associate Publisher
Read Tariq's Posts
November 28, 2018
Cars Outpace Trucks in Lost Value

Pre-owned full-size cars such as the Chrysler 300 depreciated by an average of 0.77% in Black Book’s latest weekly report, but incentives for new full-size cars stood at 13% of MSRP, tied for third-highest among all vehicle types.

Photo courtesy Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

1 min to read


LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The latest Market Insights Report from Black Book (div. Hearst Automotive) finds full-size cars leading all categories in depreciation but holding their own in available incentives. Values for pre-owned full-size cars fell by 0.77% compared to the prior four-week period, contributing to an average decline of 0.41% for all car segments.

Used SUVs, CUVs, trucks, and vans fared better, declining in value by an average of 0.23%. Values for subcompact cars and subcompact luxury crossovers were flat and prices for compact vans fell by only 0.01%. Minivans led all truck categories in depreciation, registering an 0.4% decline.

Meanwhile, incentives for new-vehicle purchases remained strong for several car types, led by luxury (14.5% of MSRP), near-luxury (14.3%), and compact and full-size (both 13%). Minivan incentives stood at 11.2%; small pickups had the lowest incentive level among all vehicle types at 5.2%.

Analysts noted the figures for Black Book’s latest report were collected during the Thanksgiving holiday week, when auction traffic is disrupted.

“Used-vehicle values were stable with the abbreviated auction schedules last week, and most auto auctions experienced lower demand,” noted Anil Goyal, the firm’s executive vice president of operations.

To read the full report, click here.

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