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Black Book: Small Cars Falter, Small Pickups Prosper in October

The average price of a used vehicle for model years 2011-2015 depreciated 2.9% in October, a noticeable change from September's 2.3% depreciation rate, according to Black Book.

by Staff
November 3, 2016
2 min to read


LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The average price of a used vehicle for model years 2011-2015 depreciated by 2.9% in October, a noticeable change from Septemeber's 2.3% depreciation rate, according to Black Book.

Cars posted the highest levels of depreciation, with values falling 3.2% in October. Trucks depreciated by 2.6% in October. All vehicles are currently averaging a 12-month depreciation change of 16.8%.

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Domestic cars, the firm added, are also highlighting the typical accelerated depreciation typically felt entering the fourth quarter. Over the last three months, domestic cars have depreciated by 9.9%, according to the firm.

“We expect pockets of vehicles to see accelerated depreciation as the year comes to a close,” said Anil Goyal, Black Book's senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics. “Most car segments certainly fall into this category, but we’ll be paying special attention on those truck and utility segments that begin to show higher depreciation.”

Breaking it down to categories within the different vehicle segments, compact cars experienced the highest drop in value during October, depreciating by 3.6% from the previous month. Cars in this category closed out October with a value average of $8,393, a 19.8% drop from the year before, according to Black Book.

In contrast, small pickups realized the highest levels of retention, depreciating by just 0.6% from the previous month. Trucks in the small pickup category finished the month with a an average value of $19,383, an 8.1% year-over-year drop, according to Black Book.  

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