McLEAN, Va. -

The new 2015 Chrysler 200, revealed at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, is set to hit the markets in the second quarter. Amid the market buzz about the new model, David Paris, automotive analyst for NADA Used Car Guide, took a look back at the original 200 on NADA UCG’s Used Car & Truck Blog.

Paris explained the original 200, which was launched in December 2010 as a 2011 model, wasn’t “something to get excited over.”

And it shows in the used value retention rate for the unit.

According to NADA UCG data, the three-year-old Chrysler 200 is currently retaining 46.5 percent of its original MSRP, or 1.9 percent below the segment (mid-size car) average of 48.4 percent.

Paris offered a few reasons why retention rates have been low for the old model.

First, he explained, “Chrysler has been known to sell lots of cars directly to rental fleet companies over the years, and the old 200 proved to be no exception.”

In fact, judging by new mid-size car rental fleet registrations from January through November of last year, 45,777 units or 40.8 percent of total 200 registrations belonged to rental fleets.

The rental penetration rate is almost 11 points higher than the model in second place in the segment for rental penetration (the Dodge Avenger, with 30.1 percent rental penetration).

“As we’ve talked about in the past, high rental rates signal poor retail demand and also mean that a mass of volume will hit the used car market over a concentrated period of time at the end of fleet service, neither of which are good for used value retention,” Paris said.

Though the old 200 may have be sliding in value, Paris said the story for the new 200 is expected to be quite different.

“The new 200 is a vast improvement over its predecessor,” said Paris, predicting its rental penetration rate will likely be much lower than the level of the outgoing model.

“While fleet sales can be profitable, they do less to build brand awareness via consumer word of mouth and they don’t allow dealers to develop relationships with consumers that lead to future sales and fixed operation opportunities. Placing a larger percentage of 200s into consumer hands will benefit both the brand and its dealers in these areas,” Paris said.

To see the original blog post, click here.