IRVINE, Calif. –

When it comes to maintaining auction values, the story during the third quarter was pickups, pickups, pickups.

According to the latest Blue Book Market Report from Kelley Blue Book, the segment of 1- to 3-year-old vehicles with the best performing auction value was the full-size pickup, whose prices softened just 0.6 percent. Second was the midsize pickup truck (down 0.9 percent).

On a brand level, RAM was the only one that showed growth in auction value during the quarter, climbing 3.1 percent.

And on the list of 10 best-performing models, pickups claimed the top three spots: GMC Canyon Crew Cab (up 3.2 percent) in first, followed by the GMC Sierra 1500 Extended Cab (up 2.8 percent) and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Extended Cab (up 2.8 percent).

So why have pickup truck values been so strong? KBB analyst Sean Foyil pointed to several reasons in comments emailed to Auto Remarketing.

“First and foremost, fuel prices are still relatively low, coupled with the fact that trucks are becoming more efficient (for example: Ford F-150’s EcoBoost motor or GMC/Chevrolet’s 2.8L 4 cylinder turbo diesel),” Foyil said.

“Also, the midsize truck segment is full of all-new and new generation vehicles which are helping to keep values up for the segment. Demand is also definitely a factor,” he said. “We’ve consistently received feedback from our field analysts that demand for trucks in the auction lane has been very strong.”