Lane watch: Recent data shows stable wholesale market
You have to delve deeper into the newest Black Book data to find much movement in the wholesale market.
Black Book said last week’s auction scene was characterized as “stable,” and for good reason, because prices ticked up only 0.01%. And analysts indicated the conversion rate — the percentage of vehicles sold at auctions — remained steady at 57%, which was unchanged from the previous week.
Stable, indeed.
“However, attention should be directed towards the luxury segments, full-size vans, and electric vehicles (EVs), as they have been experiencing a continued downward trend,” Black Book said in its newest installment of Market Insights released on Tuesday.
As referenced, Black Book noticed that values for full-size vans dropped another 0.53% last week. That’s after prices for those vehicles slid by at least 1% during each of the previous three weeks.
Moving higher, however, are sporty cars. Black Book said prices for those vehicles rose another 0.40% last week, which followed a slightly higher gain of 0.43% during the previous week.
When looking at pickups, Black Book noticed those units moving in opposite directions depending on the size.
“Last week, full-size pickups continued their upward trend with an increase of 0.13%,” analysts said in the report. “However, their smaller counterparts, small pickups, experienced a decline of 0.12% during the same time. This marked the first decrease for the segment since mid-February.”
Overall car prices on a volume-weighted basis ticked up 0.04% last week, while overall truck values edged up only 0.01%, according to Black Book tracking.
One other note in the latest Black Book update. Analysts said prices for 8- to 16-year-old cars increased 0.15%, while values for 8 to 16-year-old trucks decreased by 0.14% on average.
So, all in all, the movements combined to generate a generally stable week in the lanes.
“As always, our team of analysts are focused on keeping their eyes on the market for developing trends and gathering insight,” Black Book said.