GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

Though auction values remain a bit lower than they were during the same period last year, the industry has seen small price climbs in the lanes for the past few weeks. And when talking about auction action last week, Black Book’s Ricky Beggs said "the strength continues!"

During the NAAA/CAR event last week, Beggs said the word from remarketers and auction personnel was of "better than normal sales conversions" and strong prices.

Beggs explained Black Book is seeing the same thing, "supported by the percentage of all adjustments over the last three weeks that were increases to the previously published used values at 47 percent, 48 percent and 51 percent, (respectively)."

For this past week,  the level of increases for adjustments  came in at a solid 62 percent "off of a slightly lower 1,655 adjustments per day throughout the week," Beggs shared.

For the car segments, the overall average change last week was  a downturn of $23; for the previous four weeks the average change has been a downward movement of $25, representing a "pretty stable market for cars," says Beggs.

Specifically, two of the better trending car segments were the entry midsize cars  (which rose $30) and the upper midsize cars, which climbed by $23.

Beggs said these two segments are "following the trend for these two segments for this time of the year in 2012 and also 2011."

The truck segments performed "even better" this past week. Seven of the 14 truck segments increased for the week with an overall average segment change being a decrease of only $3, Black Book reported.

"This is the best retention level since the (positive) $5 change level from the week ending December 21, 2012. For the past four weeks the average segment change for the trucks has been at (negative) $17," Beggs said.

Kelley Blue Book also shared their March Blue Book Market Report, which highlighted some more long-term auction trends.

First, with the recent gas price spike, KBB explained that small fuel-efficient vehicles spiked in auction values in February.

Compact, subcompact and hybrid vehicles were up 7.4 percent, 11.8 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, KBB reported.

"New generations and much-anticipated redesigns are among some of the leading factors in these large increases, as 2012 saw a number of redesigns and all-new vehicles including the Honda Civic, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Sonic, just to name a few," said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst, automotive insights, in the report.

The report also noted several vehicles are reaching a three-month high, including the Honda Fit, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra and the all-new for 2012 Hyundai Veloster, which are up 2.5 percent, 3.1 percent, 4.7 percent and 5.6 percent from January 2013, respectively.

"Kelley Blue Book expects this modest seasonal uptick to continue, as more shoppers typically enter the market as spring approaches and dealers are pushed to restock depleting inventories," said Gutierrez.

Auction Prices To  Remain Lower This Month Than 2012

Though prices in March may feel a seasonal upswing, KBB expects this will  be lower than in years past.

"In March, auction values typically climb as dealers stock up on inventory in preparation for the spring selling season. Values of fuel-efficient subcompact and compact cars are especially hot during this time of year, especially when gas prices are on the upswing," said Gutierrez.

"Kelley Blue Book advises dealers looking to load up on inventory to proceed with caution as they plan for the spring market, especially those expecting a repeat of the strong wholesale gains in both 2011 and 2012 model-year vehicles," he cautioned.

Getting into a little history, during the past two years, auction values increased 3.1 and 2.0 percent, respectively,  in the month of March.

These bumps were "due in large part to the strength in the small-car segment during those years," Gutierrez explained.

So why is the price jump this year expected to be more modest?

"Values of fuel-sippers were up a more robust 10 percent and 7 percent (respectively) in 2011 and 2012. In each of the previous two years, the strength in the wholesale market largely was predicated on rising gas prices," Gutierrez concluded.

For more information on the current auction environment, see the latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market Report” below.
 

 

Sarah Rubenoff can be reached at srubenoff@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.