REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -

Canadian wholesale values were ahead of year-ago levels in May, but prices dropped sequentially across the board as the auction market incurred a 2-percentage-point month-over-month dip, according to OPENLANE.

The company’s latest Canadian Market Index was at 99, down from 101 in April and up from 95 in May 2010.

Values for cars, minivans, SUVs and trucks each fell from April levels to varying degrees. Cars, minivans and SUVs were each off 1-percentage-point month-over-month, while there was a 5-percentage-point dip in truck values.

Moving over to dealer interest, the market showed some variance here, as well.

Cars were static month-over-month and climbed 16 percentage points from May 2010.

Minivans saw a 16-percentage-point spike in dealer interest from April but a 48-percentage-point drop from May 2010.

There was a 4-percentage-point softening in SUV interest compared to April levels. However, dealer interest jumped 4 percentage points year-over-year for the segment.

Meanwhile, trucks were down 5 percentage points month-over-month and down 22 percentage points year-over-year.

Also, OPENLANE vice president of analytics Nagi Palle shared a bit of insight Thursday with Auto Remarketing on how the U.S. and Canadian wholesale markets differ.

“The Canadian market is different. Back in 2008 and 2009, it didn’t have the same level of declines in the market like we have in the U.S.,” he explained.

“The volatility of the market has been less pronounced in Canada,” Palle continued. “Having said that, they’re going through some of their own issues, especially around credit availability, from what I hear. But the Canadian market has not seen the price increases that we have seen in the U.S., for sure.”