Amid skyrocketing used- and new-car prices, some consumers mulling a vehicle purchase may choose just to wait it out, instead.

Businesses who need vehicles for their daily operations don’t have that option.

“Businesses simply cannot be without the vehicles they need to survive,” Work Truck Solutions chief executive officer Kathryn Schifferle said in a news release around the company’s ComTrend Analysis of commercial vehicle prices in the first quarter.

“If they do not have the work trucks and vans need to operate, their profits suffer,” she said.

That’s part of what is driving rather dynamic price gains in commercial vehicle prices that don’t appear to be tamping down demand —even with higher mileages on the pre-owned variety.

According to Work Truck Solutions’ analysis, average list prices for used commercial vehicles climbed 31.9% year-over-year in Q1 and were up 4.2% from the fourth quarter.

This despite the fact that median mileage on these vehicles was up 5.1% year-over-year and 1.2% sequentially.

Meanwhile, prices on new commercial vehicles were up more than 15% in Q1, but were flat from Q4, Work Truck Solutions indicated.  

This suggests that “new-vehicle prices may be entering a phase where they simply hold at these higher price levels,” the company said.

“Dealerships who can provide alternative sources for commercial vehicles, particularly at a time when OEMs simply cannot push out enough new ones to meet demand are in a great place,” Schifferle said. “Not only can they win these B2B customers today, but they’re also building long-term business for the future.”

Selling work trucks to businesses may also be a shot in the arm for dealers, should consumers get priced out of the new-car marke (or even the used-car market).

According to Kelley Blue Book, new-car transaction prices were up 13% year-over-year in April, rising to $46,526. That’s also a 0.7% hike from March.

“For nearly a year now, we've seen new vehicles transacting above suggested retail prices,” said Rebecca Rydzewski, research manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive, in a news release.

“High prices, a lack of inventory, few incentives — the market is changing, pushing many would-be buyers to the sidelines and forcing others to order from future stock and wait,” Rydzewski said. “We expect new-vehicle affordability will be a challenge for the foreseeable future.”

On the used-car side, 1- to 5-year-old cars fetched an average retail price of $34,392 in April, according to iSeeCars. Though that’s up 23.9% year-over-year, the gap has narrowed.

In January, used cars were more than 35% pricier than prior-year figures, but by March that had slowed to a 30.4% difference, the company said in an analysis.

“Used-car prices began to rise in April 2021 due to the microchip shortage,” iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said in the analysis. “So, as the year-over-year elevation in price is dropping, we see used-car prices stabilizing at these record highs, with only a tiny drop in recent months.”