LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

As you know if you’ve filled out a bracket for the NCAA tournament, basketball teams such as Villanova, Duke and Kentucky will need six victories in a row to claim a national championship.

Or a similar streak that Black Book has seen involving wholesale prices of cars versus trucks.

The latest Black Book Market Insights report highlighted that cars have outperformed trucks in price changes for six straight weeks. The report illustrated the continued strength displayed by a handful of car segments such as subcompact, compact and sporty cars.

“The spring market continues, especially for small cars and older units. Sporty cars are also starting to experience a seasonal lift in demand as warmer weather arrives,” said Anil Goyal, executive vice president of operations at Black Book.

Volume-weighted, editors determined overall car segment values declined by only 0.14 percent last week. In comparison, the market values had decreased on average by 0.18 percent per week in the previous four weeks.

Within cars, Black Book reiterated the sporty car and sub-compact car segments performed the best, with values increasing by 0.20 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively, last week.

Again examining volume-weighted data, editors found that overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — softened by 0.22 percent last week; an improvement compared to the average decrease of 0.30 percent per week during the previous four weeks.

Among trucks, Black Book found that the full-size luxury crossover/SUV and compact van segments performed the worst with values declining by 0.66 percent and 0.47 percent, respectively, last week.

Turning next to what Black Book editors and personnel who attended about 60 sales throughout the country, anecdotes showed a wide array of activity — sort of how your bracket might look after the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.

“The sale started off really well with a high percentage of sold units. Full-size trucks and midsize SUVs were the best sellers,” Black Book’s lane watcher in Illinois shared.

Not far away in Michigan, the story was a bit different.

“The market is still lagging here. It was a little bit better today, but customer traffic at the dealerships is below normal. We also can’t seem to get a break with the cold, wet weather,” the representative stationed in Michigan said.

Down in Georgia, the recap was: “Subcompacts and small SUVs performed much better than last week. Buyers complained that prices are too high on older units.”

Sliding out West, the upbeat mood was more evident.

“Best sale here in some time,” Black Book’s lane watcher in Colorado said. “The attendance was good as were the sales percentages. We are seeing a spring market turn for the better.”

Finally out in California, the observer noted, “We had a really strong sale despite the presence of poor weather. The retail demand is back as witnessed by the active bidding.”