Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, explained why this month has been a tricky one for used-car managers and leasing specialists at franchised dealerships.

Let’s begin with the details J.D. Power shared on Thursday associated with the used-car department.

So far in October, King reported average used-vehicle retail prices are coming in at $28,472, which is down $669 or 2.3% from a year ago.

King then pointed out that the decline in used-vehicle values is translating to lower trade-in equity, which is now trending toward $7,909. That’s $911 lower than a year ago.

There are even more numbers from J.D. Power in the leasing arena.

King indicated manufacturer discounts are continuing to rise.

J.D. Power projected the average incentive spend per vehicle is expected to grow 70.5% from last October and is on track to reach $3,149.

Expressed as a percentage of MSRP, King explained incentive spending is currently at 6.3%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from a year ago. Spending increased by $24 per unit from September.

“One of the drivers of higher incentive spending from a year ago is the increased availability of discounted lease payments,” King said in a news release, mentioning that leasing is expected to account for 23.2% of retail sales in October. That’s up 2.3 percentage points from 20.8% in October of last year.

“Although appealing lease offers are boosting the lease mix, the industry is still grappling with the lasting effect of diminished leasing activity from three years ago,” King added.

J.D. Power determined the number of leases set to expire this month is down 10.7% compared with September and 35.4% lower than October of last year.

“With fewer leases maturing, there are less opportunities to drive sales,” said King, who also looked ahead toward the remainder of the year.

“November traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday sales event season for the automotive industry. This period often sees a focus on premium vehicles, accompanied by manufacturer-backed lease incentives and pricing discounts,” King said.

“As the number of leases expiring in November and December is projected to be nearly 40% lower than the same period a year ago, this holiday season may require innovative strategies to entice customers into acquiring a new vehicle,” he went on to say.