Black Book said overall wholesale values didn’t accelerate higher as much last week as they did earlier in March. However, analysts said those gains are still above pre-pandemic levels of appreciation for this time of year.

And then this week, the Trump administration implemented the 25% tariff on all imported vehicles into the U.S., prompting Black Book to reiterate its observation plan in its newest installment of Market Insights.

“We will be closely monitoring the market, expecting to see a rise in demand for used vehicles,” analysts said in the report released on Tuesday, the day before those tariffs came into effect.

Usual spring-market demand already is pushing wholesale values higher, as Black Book pegged last week’s overall price gain at 0.17%, which was nearly triple the average rise analysts spotted during the same weeks in 2017 through 2019.

But last week’s increase was lower than what Black Book noticed a week earlier when wholesale prices climbed by 0.29%.

Also of note when looking at the overall auction scene, Black Book reported last week’s conversion rate came in at 63%.

“Last week, we concluded the final full week of March, which featured some of the highest auction conversion rates we’ve observed in quite some time,” Black Book said. “The average conversion rate for March was 64%, with a peak of 66% for one week. However, total auction inventory for March declined compared to February.

“Key trends we have been monitoring continued throughout the month: exporters of pre-owned Canadian vehicles saw an increase in pricing, reducing the gap compared to non-Canadian units, and OEMs consistently sold large volumes each week across the country,” analysts continued.

Looking deeper into last week’s data, perhaps dealers are looking for units they can certify, as analysts noticed prices for cars less than 2 years old rose by 0.11%.

A similar situation happened in the truck department, as Black Book reported prices for trucks less than 2 years old jumped by 0.24%.

All told, car prices rose 0.08% and truck values 0.20% last week, according to Black Book tracking, which also indicated five of nine car segments reported increasing values last week and nine out of 13 truck segments experienced an increase in values a week ago.

Among specific vehicle segments, the ones that made the most significant value moves a week ago included full-size cars (up 0.36%), midsize crossover/SUVs (up 0.52%) and full-size vans (down 0.30%).

“With the implementation of these tariffs, the team at Black Book will be monitoring the market closely for impacts on used pricing,” analysts said.