LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia – Black Book, a division of Hearst that provides industry-leading used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions, released its Used Vehicle Retention Index for January 2021 (128.9), a +0.1 point change from December (128.8). Click here to obtain a copy of the latest index data. 

The spring market came earlier than before this year with wholesale prices actually increasing during the last week of January.

“With the expected improvements in used retail demand and shortages of new inventory, the overall used wholesale market was strong in January,” said Alex Yurchenko, SVP, Data Science and Analytics. “The spring market came earlier than before this year with wholesale prices actually increasing during the last week of January. Full-size pickup trucks remained strong with the index for that segment increasing by 3.2 points. Early tax season preparations seemed to drive Sub-compact and Compact Car Segment’s indices up by 0.8 and 2.9 points respectively.” 

 The Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index is calculated using Black Book’s published Wholesale Average value on two- to six-year-old used vehicles, as percent of original typically equipped MSRP. It is weighted based on registration volume and adjusted for seasonality, vehicle age, mileage, and condition.

The Index offers an accurate, representative, and unbiased view of the strength of today’s used vehicle market values.   The Index dates to January 2005, where Black Book published a benchmark index value of 100.0 for the market. During 2008, the index dropped by 14.1% while during 2016, the index fell by just 6.4%. During 2011, the index rose strongly from 113.3 to 123.0 by the end of the year as the economy picked up steam and used vehicle values rose higher. It continued to remain relatively stable, rising slightly until May of 2014 when it hit a peak of 128.1.   To obtain a copy of the latest Black Book Wholesale Value Index, please click here.