Sedan Auction Values Continue Year-End Decline

As the year comes to a close, used sedan values are continuing to decline from the abnormally high levels that the segment saw through most of 2018.

Overall used car segment values decreased 0.72% last week, compared to 0.64% the week before, according to Black Book’s Dec. 10 Market Insights report.

This decline is expected at this point of the year, Black Book noted.

Four car segments — subcompact car, mid-size car, full-size car, and sporty cars — realized the highest depreciation last week. Meanwhile, the best performing segments were prestige luxury and premium sporty cars.

“Mainstream used sedan values declined the most last week since January of this year,” said Anil Goyal executive vice president, operations for Black Book. “After bucking the trend for most of the year, the depreciation rates are finally reverting to seasonal expectations.”

Looking at the truck segment, average wholesale values last week were slightly higher than where they were two weeks ago. Overall truck segment values decreased 0.64% last week, compared to 0.79% the week prior.

Two truck segments stood out for posting the highest depreciation through last week: minivans and small pickups. Average wholesale minivan values decreased 1.36% last week and small pickups values decreased 1.13%. These two drops represented the highest depreciation among all vehicle segments.

On the other end, subcompact luxury crossovers posted the lowest depreciation among all vehicle segments last week at 0.18%.