GAINESVILLE, GA - Black Book's recent report shows that most segments of the used-vehicle industry have remained strong over the last thirty and ninety day periods ending May 1, 2009, according to Ricky Beggs, VP & managing editor of Black Book.

According to Beggs, 16 of the 24 unique vehicle segments being tracked by Black Book have appreciated over the past 30 days ending May 1, 2009. Those 16 segments increased an average of $217, and the average decrease for the eight that went down was only $122.

Four of the top five segments were SUVs or crossover type vehicles, with an average increase of $355 (2.2 percent). The bottom five segments, a combination of cars, full-size vans/wagons, and compact pickups, decreased an average of $166 (0.72 percent).

"Over the past year, we have witnessed the most volatile and unpredictable period in the last 35-40 years of the used auto industry," commented Beggs. "The average depreciation of 2007 through 2003 model-year used vehicles was -23.75 percent during the last twelve months, considerably more than the typical depreciation of 16 to 18 percent."

Seventeen of the twenty-four segments Black Book track decreased over 20 percent during the past year, the worst being Prestige Luxury Cars at -27.1 percent. The best performing segments over the past year were compact pickups, compact sport/utilities, sull-size pickups, full-size sport/utilities, full-size vans, mid-size pickups, and mid-size sport utilities, dropping an average of only 13.2 percent.