Vehicle Remarketing Logo

Depreciation Bites Harder in October, Black Book Says

Depreciation for 1- to 5-year-old vehicles saw a significant increase to 2.9% for October from the 2.3% September rate with passenger cars seeing greater weakness, according to Black Book.

by Staff
November 4, 2016
Depreciation Bites Harder in October, Black Book Says

Photo of 2015-MY Chevrolet Colorado courtesy of GM.

2 min to read


Photo of 2015-MY Chevrolet Colorado courtesy of GM.

Depreciation for 1- to 5-year-old vehicles saw a significant increase to 2.9% for October from the 2.3% September rate with passenger cars seeing greater weakness, according to Black Book.

Cars saw a 3.2% decrease in retained value for the month, while trucks, vans, and SUVs saw a 2.6% depreciation rate. Vehicles from the 2011 to 2015 model years are now averaging an annual depreciation rate of 16.8%.

Ad Loading...

"We expect pockets of vehicles to see accelerated depreciation as the year comes to a close," said Anil Goyal, senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics. "Most car segments certainly fall into this category, but we'll be paying special attention on those truck and utility segments that begin to show higher depreciation."

Compact cars saw the highest drop in value with a 3.6% decline to $8,393, which represents a 19.8% decline from a year ago. Vehicles in this category include the Honda Accord, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Chevrolet Cruze, and the Nissan Sentra. Mid-size cars declined 3.2% to $11,730.

Subcompact SUVs also showed weakness with a 10.2% decline in the past three months. These vehicles include the Buick Encore and Chevrolet Trax.

Smaller pickups maintained their strength in retention value, falling 0.6% to $19,383, which represents an 8.1% decline from a year ago. Vehicles in this segment include the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Chevrolet Colorado, and Honda Ridgeline.

Categories with vehicles that are widely found in fleets or used for commercial purposes were mostly in line with the monthly trend, including full-size pickups (down 2.2% to $26,355), full-size vans (down 2.3% to $22,328, and compact vans (down 2.6% to $14,313). Year over year, vehicles in these categories depreciated 4.6%, 5.9%, and 8.3% respectively.

Originally posted on Automotive Fleet

More Operations

Image of three award winners at 2026 CAR
Operationsby Faith HowellMay 6, 2026

2026 CAR Awards Celebrate Industry Excellence

CAR’s annual Fleet Remarketing Awards opened a reimagined 2026 conference designed to bridge the worlds of fleet management and automotive remarketing.

Read More →
Collage of CAR speakers
Used Vehicle Valuesby Chris BrownApril 27, 2026

CAR2026 in Two Words: Velocity, Value (Part 1)

The 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing convened with a mandate to involve a new constituency — fleet managers — and an updated mission to demonstrate unrealized value in de-fleeted vehicles.

Read More →
Graphic promoting CAR 2026 roundtables featuring headshots of five speakers and topics including Wall Street trends, fleet data, upfits, fair market value, and AI in remarketing.
Operationsby Chris BrownMarch 31, 2026

CAR 2026: Get the Wall Street Update on the Key Players in Remarketing

From a Wall Street analyst's take on remarketing's key players to whether fleets need their own version of Carfax, CAR 2026's afternoon roundtables will answer key operational and industry questions.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Promotional graphic for CAR 2026 panel on data-driven value in commercial vehicles, featuring five industry experts and session details for April 16 in Cleveland.
Fleetby Chris BrownMarch 31, 2026

CAR 2026 Session to Uncover the Missing Data That's Costing Fleets at Disposal

Work trucks lose value at remarketing, not because they aren't worth more, but because the data to prove it rarely makes it to the auction.

Read More →
A rental car rolling through a UVeye overhead vehicle inspection terminal.
Operationsby News/Media ReleaseMarch 13, 2026

TSD Mobility, UVeye Partner On Automated Vehicle Inspections

The enhanced technology allows rental car operations, dealerships, and auctions to compare a vehicle’s condition at pickup and drop-off within the same rental or loaner record.

Read More →
Graphic promoting a CAR 2026 conference session showing four speaker headshots above the title “What Really Moves Vehicle Value Now — And What Doesn’t” with automotive conference branding
Operationsby Chris BrownMarch 11, 2026

CAR 2026: What Really Moves Vehicle Value Now — And What Doesn’t

A panel at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing will examine how resale value is created across the vehicle lifecycle and which traditional remarketing practices still deliver ROI.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
A collage of two photos of day cab trucks above a checklist for maximizing resale values.
Used Vehicle ValuesMarch 1, 2026

How To Maximize TCO and Resale Value in Day Cab Fleets

Smart operational and spec'ing decisions can dramatically improve both the total cost of ownership during use and the resale value when it's time to remarket day cabs.

Read More →
Image of rows of cars and a shopping cart.
Used Vehicle Valuesby Chris BrownMarch 1, 2026

How to Drive Better Returns on De-Fleeted Vehicles in 2026

Smart remarketing begins before vehicles enter the fleet, and is built on strong data and stronger FMC partnerships.

Read More →
Summary table of January auction sales report.
Used Vehicle Valuesby News/Media ReleaseFebruary 9, 2026

Auction Sales Kick Off 2026 In High Step

Winter snowstorms and frosty freeze-overs could not slow down the hot vehicle auction action nationwide in January.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Arun Rajagopalan's, CEO and co-founder of Motorq, headshot is placed above text about the 2026 CAR conference.
Operationsby Chris BrownFebruary 6, 2026

CAR 2026: Rethinking Vehicle Valuation Through Health Data

How can vehicle-sourced performance data change the way fleets assess condition, time de-fleets, and set remarketing expectations? A seminar at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR) has answers.

Read More →