Used-Vehicle Values Change Course
Small 2024 shift shows they may have stopped declining from pandemic-era inflation.
Used-vehicle sales rose 4% last year amid still-tight inventory, helping to end a post-pandemic period of depreciation.
Pexels/Richard Taveira
Used-vehicle values were flat last year at just a 0.4% bump, though that was the biggest advance in three years, according to Cox Automotive.
The change still paled in comparison to what Cox said is 2.3% long-term average growth but shows promise of sustained improvements.
“We saw weaker-than-expected price performance in the first half of the year and stronger prices in the second half,” said Cox Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke. “But that transition in the middle of 2024 was a key milestone: It appears the period of used-vehicle price correction is over.”
Cox’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index peaked in late 2021 at about 258 and has since gradually descended from that high, ending last year at about 205. Now values are slowly working their way back up “as retail demand has remained healthy and inventories tight,” said Cox, which indicated that used-vehicle sales rose 4% last year.
Used electric-vehicle values are still depreciating faster than gas-powered models. Cox’s EV value index has dropped nearly 30% from its July 2022 peak while the non-EV index has fallen just 14%. The descent may have ended, though.
“In the second half of 2024, however, the EV index increased by 9.4% while the non-EV index rose by only 4%,” Robb said. “So, it appears used EV values may have found a floor,” said Cox Senior Director of Economic and Industry Insights.
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