Following the Thanksgiving slowdown, depreciation resumed across much of the market; however, the pace of declines remained moderate and did not return to the steep drops—over 1% per week—seen in late October and early November, according to Black Book Market Insights released Dec. 9. Current depreciation rates are consistent with typical seasonal patterns for this time of year, reflecting the impact of elevated new-car incentives and the resulting pressure on used-vehicle values.
Car Segments
On a volume-weighted basis, the overall Car segment decreased -0.58%. For reference, in the previous week, cars decreased -0.34%. The 0-to-2-year-old Car segments were down -0.56% and 8-to-16-year-old Cars decreased -0.46%. All nine Car segments reported a decrease in values last week. After a brief pause in depreciation during the Thanksgiving week, the Sub-Compact Car segment resumed its downward trend last week, falling -1.13%. Over the past eight weeks—excluding the holiday week—the segment has averaged a weekly decline of -1.16%.
In contrast, depreciation in the Sub-Compact Car segment continued to ease, declining -0.39% last week— a notable improvement from just a few weeks ago, when the segment posted four consecutive weekly drops of more than 1%.
Truck / SUV Segments
The volume-weighted, overall Truck segment decreased -0.85% compared to the decrease seen the prior week of -0.62%. The 0-to-2-year-old models saw an average decrease of -0.67% and the 8-to-16-year-old models experienced an average decrease of -0.73%.
All thirteen truck segments declined last week, with four of them posting drops of more than 1%.
Although many segments saw depreciation accelerate compared with the Thanksgiving week, the 0-to-2-year-old Small Pickup segment continued to show easing declines, falling -0.50% last week versus six prior weeks of drops exceeding 1%. The 8-to-16-year-old Minivan segment continued to show below-average depreciation, slipping just -0.07% last week, compared with the overall market’s -0.62% decline for older model years.
