LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.—The trend of big vehicles holding their values well while the resale price of small cars declines the fastest continued in September, according to Black Book.
Black Book reports the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2010-2014 declined 1.5% during September, relatively unchanged from the -1.6% pace during August. Cars declined 2.3% while trucks declined just 1.0% during the month. Average pre-recession annual depreciation was continually recorded between 15% and 18%, and Black Book expects 2015 depreciation near 14.0%.
Compact cars led all vehicle segments with the highest depreciation on the month at 3.7%. Vehicles in this segment finished September with an average segment price of $8,923, a 16.9% drop from a year ago ($10,739).
Full-size SUVs and full-size passenger vans led all segments with the lowest depreciation on the month at 0.5% each. Vehicles in this segment finished the month with an average price of $26,512, a 3.7% drop from year-ago levels ($27,530).
Compact pickups have the lowest 12-month moving depreciation average at just 2.9%, a lower price drop than what compact cars have experienced in just the last 30 days.
Premium sporty cars led all car segments with the lowest depreciation at 1.2% on the month. Vehicles in this segment finished the month with an average segment price of $43,253, a -14.2% change from a year ago ($50,387).
“Overall vehicle depreciation continues to hold up well, especially as we near the part of the year where heavier price drops are typically expected,” said Anil Goyal, vice president of automotive valuation and analytics for Black Book. “It’s very telling of the disparity between cars and trucks to see that we have some truck segments showing lower annual depreciation than what cars are seeing on a monthly level.”