January Wholesale Prices Rise 6.7% YOY

Wholesale used vehicle prices in January averaged $10,945, a 6.7% year-over-year increase and 2.8% month-over-month rise, according to ADESA Analytical Services.

In terms of average vehicle prices, trucks outperformed cars on a year-over-year basis, whereas cars outperformed trucks on a month-over-month basis.

“Considering the increased supply of used vehicles wholesaled in January, used vehicle prices held up surprisingly well, despite soft retail demand and high new vehicle incentives,” said Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services chief economist.

Looking at average wholesale prices on a year-over-year basis, average truck prices rose 7.4% to $12,990 while car prices rose 3.9% to $8,867. This healthy rise, ADESA noted, was driven by every single vehicle segment experiencing a year-over-year increase in average wholesale price.

The smallest price increase came from the compact car segment, which realized a 1.6% year-over-year rise in average wholesale price. Prices for this segment grew to $6,639 in January of this year, compared to $6,531 in the year before. The largest year-over-year increase came from minivans, which realized a 30.1% rise in average wholesale price. Average prices for minivans spiked from $7,141 a year ago to $9,289 in this past month.

Month-over-month, car prices grew 3.4%, while truck prices rose 2.7%. The truck segment’s relative weakness on a month-over-month basis, was partly attributed to the full-size SUV/CUV segment seeing a 4.6% price drop from December to January.

“All model classes showed month-over-month and year-over-year price gains except full-size SUV/CUVs, whose prices declined relative to December but were up year-on-year.  The extreme year-over-year gain in minivan prices was driven by a change in mix favoring younger, pricier minivans, which exaggerated the increase,” noted Kontos, in his January used vehicle market conditions commentary.

This trend — year-over-year growth and month-over-month decline — mirrored what manufacturer remarketing arms experienced, Kontos said. Average wholesale prices for used vehicles remarketed by manufacturers were up 1.4% year-over-year, but 3.4% month-over-month.

On a year-over-year basis, average prices for dealer consignors were up 3.1% and up 2.5% month-over-month. Prices for fleet / lease consignors were up 5.1% year-over-year and 4.9% month-over-month, however, rental risk units showed year-over-year price declines, Kontos noted.

According to NADA data, both franchised and independent dealers experienced a respective 4.0% and 8.1% year-over-year increase to retail used vehicle sales. However, on a month-over-month basis, both independent and franchised dealers registered 25% less retail used vehicle sales.

CPO sales also experienced a slight, 0.8%, boost in retail sales on a year-over-year basis. Month-over-month, however, January CPO sales were down 17.1%, according to Autodata.