GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

Along with sharing Ricky Beggs’ latest wholesale market analysis, Black Book announced Tuesday that industry veteran Jeff Bunch joined the company as director of automotive licensing.

In this role, Black Book explained Bunch will be responsible for leading its efforts to increase revenue growth from the licensing of Black Book data to dealers and companies who serve the dealer community.

Bunch spent his first 12 years in the automotive industry in a variety of sales roles at Chrysler, Chevrolet and other frachised dealerships. Bunch went to work for Manheim 1997, starting at Manheim Financial Services where he rose to the position of vice president of sales and operations and most recently was Manheim’s vice president of dealer services.

Black Book president Tom Cross declared, “I am thrilled to have Jeff join our senior management team. He has an incredible automotive background with deep retail, wholesale and OEM expertise and the reputation of someone who really understands the challenges dealers are facing today with the mindset to want to help with those challenges.”

Reacting to the announcement, Bunch remarked, “I am excited about joining the Black Book team. Through my entire automotive career I have had the greatest level of respect for this organization. The integrity with which Black Book has served the automotive industry is second to none, and I am proud to be part of their management team.

Latest Beggs Commentary

The Black Book managing editor began his latest edition of his online video blog, “Beggs on the Used Car Market,” by describing the current wholesale landscape as “a pretty solid market.”

Beggs continued with, “As we hit the lanes, the airwaves for other auctions, and compiled the data feeds, there was a little uptick for both cars and trucks resulting in the overall change for each group to be more solid and stable as the average change was a smaller decline week over week than we had seen for quite some time.”

To be exact, Black Book discovered car prices softened just $25 last week, the smallest figure since July 15.

Meanwhile, trucks ticked down just $3, according to editors. The last time a truck change was that small was April 29 when truck prices moved $7 higher.

“The market continues to be very active even though we are getting a few reports of lower percentage conversions in some areas,” Beggs mentioned.

While the conversions might be dipping, Black Book editors have remained busy. Beggs indicated they adjusted 2,300 vehicle prices a day last week, a increase of about 1,000 above what editors modified a week earlier.

Of last week’s changes, Black Book found about 46 percent resulted in price increases above the readings revealed during the previous week.

“The mix and volume of vehicles plays a significant part in actual retention.” Beggs explained.

“In many popular commercial type vehicles, both cars and utility models, where there is a good supply crossing the block, dealers are being a little more selective in what they are bidding on and how much they are willing to bid,” he continued.

“They might also punish the vehicle value when the miles get a little edgy for the age of the vehicle. That’s ample reason not to benchmark everything off of average condition,” Beggs added.

Beggs went on to point out that Black Book’s recent analysis also showed interest and demand  for hybrid units is not at a major premium.

“When looking at new-unit sales, the percentage of vehicles sold with hybrid or electric only power plants is just over 2 percent of the volume,” Beggs stated.

“On the used side, the value benefit is OK until the mileage mounts up. Then the reaction reflected in the bid levels within the market changes,” he interjected.

Beggs continued his latest analysis by touching on some specific vehicle segments, turning first to cars.

The managing editor said entry level cars increased in value for the third consecutive week. Beggs also mentioned that while prestige level cars and premium sporty cars often fluctuate by $100 or more, these units ticked down by $62 and $55, respectively, last week.

Sticking with cars, Beggs also pointed out entry mid-size cars slipped only $9 and compact cars moved $11 lower.

“Note the better retention units this week within the cars are from the smaller more fuel efficient models,” Beggs stressed. “Could this be a reaction to the slightly higher gas prices we are seeing at the pump?”

Black Book’s analysis also revealed that midsize pickups stood as the only truck segment to move higher for two consecutive weeks as prices ticked $13 higher.

Meanwhile, midsize SUVs had the largest truck decline, but only at $23 for the week.

“So earlier when I questioned whether increasing gas prices are affecting the smaller cars positively, the demand and functionality of the trucks apparently is stronger than the slight increase at the pump,” Beggs surmised.

Along with keeping watch of the lanes, Black Book plans to be on hand at this weekend’s National Automobile Dealers Association Convention and Expo in Las Vegas.

“The team of editors at Black Book is staying busy tracking and reporting the market and the auction activity. From traditional physical auctions for cars and light duty trucks to the medium and heavy duty trucks and other specialty sales, we’ll be on the lanes and watching online,” Beggs pledged.

“We hope you have a tremendous week of business and look forward to seeing you back on the auction lanes,” he added.

Beggs’ videos can be viewed here.