Fluctation on the Lanes and at the Pump

GAINESVILLE, GA - According to Black Book, only entry level cars was the only vehicle segment that increased over the past week, up by $10. Industry headlines vary from upbeat expectations on new-car sales leves and the rapid increase in gasoline prices.

"Both industry and consumer headlines have highlighted the recent rapid rise in retail gas prices. With some predicting we might see $5 per gallon by Memorial Day, we at Black Book won't speculate on the values of various models that might improve or decline in value as a result of fluctuation at the gas pump," said Ricky Beggs, VP and managing editor of Black Book in his recent "Beggs on the Market" report. "We are already tracking the activity and values of vehicles that reside on each extreme end of the mpg levels, and will report what happens when it happens."

In looking at the adjustments required this past week, there was only one car segment that increased, that being the Entry Level Cars (ELC), up by $10. This week the average car change came in at -$20, which is the smallest decline for the cars since the week ending July 15, 2011.

With the largest declining segment, the Premium Sporty Cars (PSC) changing by -$55, the Compact Cars (SCC) with no change, the Upper Mid-size Cars (UMC) at -$6, and the Entry Mid-size Cars (EMC) at -$9, all helped keep the average change this low. The four best performing segments within the cars are all relatively fuel efficient models.

Beggs asked, "Is this already a sign of adjustments due to gas price changes?"

Turning to the truck segments, there were two segments that increased for the week and both of those were pretty strong levels of change. A $59 increase with the Compact SUVs (CSU) and the Mid-size SUVs (MSU) up by $41 led the way. Showing more stability for the trucks were four segments with minimal single digit declines. Those were the Mid-size Crossovers (MXU) at -$4, the Compact Pickups (CPT) at -$5, with the Full-size SUVs (FSU), and the Passenger Minivans (MVW) both at -$6.

"Where two weeks ago there were significantly more Average condition values adjusted than Clean, this week the condition adjustments were almost identical in volumes at just over 1,900 per day. During this early spring market only 38 percent of the adjustments were increases this past week, the smallest level since the week ending January 6," according to Beggs. "As I looked over the Black Book survey personnel summary reports, I noticed a major shift in comments about the market as the week progressed. These seemed to be related to the news headlines regarding gas prices. As I mentioned earlier, we'll be on top of the market reporting the values on a Daily basis."