Contrary to expectations, Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index fell only 1.2% year-over-year in January, registering 113.1.

Anil Goyal, executive vice president, operations for Black Book, said that his company expected a larger decline in January, given the lift that wholesale vehicle values received last year due to hurricane replacement activity.

Instead, Black Book saw fairly typical depreciation.

According to Black Book, most vehicle segments experienced a 1% decline in wholesale values through the last 12 months. The biggest outliers were near luxury cars and luxury cars, which registered 1.8% and 1.6% depreciation, respectively.

Looking toward the next few months, Black Book is fairly optimistic about where wholesale values will be.

“We anticipate stability in the Index values over the next couple of months as the spring selling season gets underway, and consumers shop with an appetite driven by the recent tax changes approved,” Goyal said.

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