BANDON, Ore. -

When crunching its August numbers, CNW Research calculated that the days’ supply of used vehicles is up more than 15 percent versus a year ago, a level approaching 55 days and the highest so far this year.

What does the figure mean for used-car managers trying to plan for the remainder of 2012? CNW president Art Spinella thinks the supply level will translate into softer used prices as dealers attempt to shed inventory that’s beginning to back up.

CNW indicated that trucks are in shorter supply than cars for the third month running, making up less than 90 percent of average days’ supply compared to 120-plus percent for cars.

The firm also mentioned domestic, Asian and European brand used models are all up in terms of days’ supply as well.

“But Detroit products are lingering on lots longer than either their Asian or European counterparts,” Spinella pointed out.

With autumn quickly approaching, Spinella attempted to place some clarity into where the supply trend might be going.

“The new- and used-vehicle industries aren’t out of the woods just yet,” Spinella acknowledged. “Much will hinge on the perceptions of consumers after the presidential election.”

CNW’s spotting of this upward rise in supply reinforced what the National Automobile Dealers Association predicted in a white paper published back in May.

The “turning point” for supplies of late-model used units is likely to come sometime during the third quarter of next year, NADA said in the “Used Vehicle Supply: Future Outlook and the Impact on Used Vehicle Prices.”

And it could be even sooner for off-lease volumes, in particular.

“NADA forecasts that the supply of late-model units will decline for about another year and a half, and that we will finally reach the turning point in the third quarter of 2013,” the report stated. “That said, due to the structured nature of lease contracts, combined with shorter holding periods, off-lease volume will start to trend upward toward the end of 2012.

“In fact, we’ve already reached the turning point for off-lease units three years old or younger. This trend will provide some relief for dealers searching for clean, certifiable late-model units,” it continued.

As for the rest of this year, NADA’s white paper had projected that units up to five years old would show an 11-percent decrease in supply. Officials noted this decrease was expected despite the “assumption” that increases in new-vehicle sales would lead to more trade-ins. In 2011, supply for the same age group of vehicles dipped 7 percent.