Manheim Used Value Index Drops 9.6% Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Wholesale used vehicle prices dropped 11.8% month-over-month so far in April, bringing the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 125.2, which is 9.6% lower than it was at the same time in 2019, and could reach lows not seen since 2008.

If the mid-month value of the Manheim Index holds for the balance of April, the monthly decline will set a record, according to Manheim. The prior decline record was 5.5% in November 2008.

Declines in Manheim Market Report (MMR) prices accelerated over the last four weeks, with the first two weeks of April seeing a decline of 4.8% in the Three-Year-Old Index. However, declines observed in MMR values does not fully reflect the declines occurring in the relatively limited number of sales transactions taking place, said Manheim.

Year-over-year, the report found that most major segments underperformed in the overall market, however luxury cars and SUVs/CUVs performed the best, despite luxury vehicles and most SUVs seeing declining shares of the transaction volumes at Manheim in the first half of April.

New retail vehicle sales were down 54% year-over-year on Wednesday, which was an improvement from the 71% year-over-year decline at the end of March, according to Cox Automotive analysis of Dealertrack transaction volumes on a same-store basis. Meanwhile, the average price for rental risk units sold at auction in the first 15 days of April was down 17.1% year-over-year. Rental risk prices were down 18.5% compared to March. Average mileage for rental risk units in April (at 54,000 miles) was up 20% compared to a year ago and up 18% month-over-month.