With both Christmas and New Year’s Day each falling directly in the middle of the business week this year, Black Book editorial director and senior vice president Ricky Beggs discussed the definitive impact that timing left in the lanes.

During his most recent online video commentary, Beggs said, “Sure, the overall activity has been reduced, but the prices and their necessary adjustments are reacting to a more long-term market, not just a special one- or two-week reaction.”

Overall, Black Book editors determined that average prices for both cars and trucks dropped $53 (or 0.35 percent) last week, compared to the week prior to the holidays.

The latest edition of “Beggs on the Used Car Market” also touched on how the latest gas-price movements are leaving a pricing impact, especially on entry-level cars and compact cars, which softened by 0.83 percent and 0.43 percent a week ago, respectively.

“Gas prices have started their seasonal increase this past week, coming in $0.04 higher week over week. This puts gas at $0.01 higher than a year ago,” Beggs said.

“If this past winter is any indication, get ready for a significant increase over the next two months or so. Last year during the first two months of the year the increase was $0.52 per gallon,” he continued.

One car segment posted a smaller level of depreciation last week, as Black Book indicated prices for entry midsize cars dipped by 0.22 percent.

“This is a car segment that represents good size and fuel economy and probably reaches out to a greater group of buyers, thus the better overall retention,” Beggs said.

Elsewhere for car prices, Black Book reported that four segments dipped by similar levels, including:

—Entry sporty cars: down 0.24 percent
—Near luxury cars: down 0.26 percent
—Premium sporty cars: down 0.26 percent
—Luxury level cars: down 0.31 percent

“I think this indicates a market where the signs of a continually improving economy are encouraging consumers to step up and move up,” Beggs said.

Moving over to trucks, average prices for these units declined for the fourth week in a row, dropping $69 last week. Leading the way was full-size passenger vans, where prices decreased 1.07 percent.

“This segment has almost been seen as a roller-coaster market over the past nine weeks, having a couple of weeks of miniscule -0.04-percent and -0.05-percent changes to a couple of weeks of -1.22-percent and -1.18-percent changes,” Beggs said. “The extreme ends of the changes were not back to back weeks.

“The cargo versions have reacted similarly,” he added. “These segments are driven primarily from sellers within the fleet and commercial segments. The minivan segments, while more consumer driven, have adjusted more steadily over the past seven to eight weeks.”

Black Book also noticed the sharp price declines posted by full-size crossovers tempered a bit last week after tumbling $100 or more during four of the previous five weeks. A week ago, prices for these units dipped 0.11 percent (or $22).

Beggs wrapped up his latest wholesale analysis by reflecting back on 2013.

“It is hard to believe another year has come and gone,” Beggs said. “It is exciting to think about what’s ahead within the used market as volumes continue to increase, the age of the trades start to return to the more traditional and steady mix, and the tools and services at hand within the wholesale industry that assist everyone in their quest to succeed.

“If we had to narrow it down to only a couple of factors supporting the growing used market it would be the availability of quality used cars to meet consumer demand and the availability of funding for both dealers and consumers which makes the used car a solid proposition,” he continued.

“I look forward each week to see how the market values have changed and relating those changes to which factor or factors that are behind the fresh values. We trust that our insight supports your latest market decisions,” Beggs went on to say.

Furthermore, Beggs mentioned a recap of Black Book’s annual interview with the current leadership of the National Auto Auction Association is coming soon.

“Their thoughts on the market and plans to support the wholesale market channels are always insightful,” Beggs said.

“Until then, thank you for your use of the Black Book products and services and your interest in these blogs,” he continued. “We wish for each of you a prosperous year. We will see you back on the auction lanes throughout 2014.”

Beggs’ latest video can be viewed below.

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