CARMEL, Ind. -

Sparked in part by a rush of off-rental units, ADESA found January wholesale prices trending higher both on a month-over-month comparison as well as against year-ago readings.

According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale values by vehicle model class, prices in January averaged $10,037 — up 2.5 percent compared to December and 1.3 percent relative to January of last year.

The analysis indicated the strongest year-on-year wholesale price increases were registered by full-size vans, compact crossovers, midsize cars, full-size pickups and mini SUVs.

“Wholesale used-vehicle prices rose sequentially and on a year-over-year basis in January partly due to an influx of off-rental units that biased average prices upward,” ADESA's Tom Kontos said. “The surge of off-rental units stems in large part from vehicles taken out of service in January following extended use in the Northeast in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Those units would likely have otherwise been taken out of service during the normal defleeting period in late-2012. 

“Typically, off-rental units are current-model-year or one-model-year-old vehicles and therefore carry a higher value than older like-model used vehicles,” Kontos continued. “With a disproportionate share of these vehicles hitting auction in January, average prices were biased upward.

“With this factor now largely played-out, one can expect wholesale prices to resume the general softening pattern that began around mid-2012 and that was interrupted by Superstorm Sandy,” he went on to say.

Drilling deeper into the January data, ADESA found that prices for used vehicles remarketed by manufacturers were up 7.7 percent year-over-year, “indicating continued good absorption of off-rental program vehicles.”

Analysts also noticed that prices for fleet/lease consignors were up 3.5 percent year-over-year.  However, ADESA mentioned prices fell 1.2 percent year-over-year for dealer consignors.

Based on data from CNW Research, Kontos recapped that retail used-vehicle sales in January increased 14.5 percent year-over-year for franchised dealers and 16.9 percent for independent stores.

Similarly, Kontos pointed out January sales of certified used vehicles were up 14.9 percent versus prior-year, based on information from Autodata.

ADESA also provided the following table to illustrate its data:

ADESA Wholesale Used Vehicle Price Trends
  Average Prices  ($/Unit) Latest Month Versus
  January 2013 December 2012 January 2012 Prior Month Prior Year
           
 Total All Vehicles  $10,037  $9,787  $9,906  2.5%  1.3%
           
 Total Cars  $9.082  $8,867  $8,982  2.4%  1.1%
 Compact Cars  $6,964  $6,943  $7,145  0.3%  -2.5%
 Midsize Cars  $8,365  $7,978  $8,031  4.9%  4.2%
 Full-size Cars  $7,713  $7,645  $7,699  0.9%  0.2%
 Luxury Cars  $12,705  $12,458  $12,749  2.0%  -0.4%
 Sporty Cars  $12,417  $12,365  $12,383  0.4%  0.3%
           
 Total Trucks  $9,961  $9,817  $9,982  1.5%  -0.2%
 Minivan  $7,089  $6,853  $7,281  3.4%  -2.6%
 Full-size Vans  $10,116  $8,943  $9,407  13.1%  7.5%
 Mini SUVs  $10,788  $10,755  $10,486  0.3%  2.9%
 Midsize SUVs  $6,953  $6,733  $7,242  3.3%  -4.0%
 Full-size SUVs  $10,821  $11,501  $11,606  -5.9%  -6.8%
 Luxury SUVs  $18,806  $19,233  $19,486  -2.2%  -3.5%
 Compact Pickups  $7,604  $7,221  $7,746  5.3%  -1.8%
 Full-size Pickups  $12,003  $11,652  $11,617  3.0%  3.3%
           
 Total Crossovers  $13,658  $13,084  $13,340  3.7%  1.7%
 Compact CUVs  $11,881  $11,381  $11,223  4.4%  5.9%
 Midsize/Full-size CUVs  $15,134  $14,674  $15,897  3.1%  -4.8%

 

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