Depreciation slowed marginally in July, though downward pressure proved to be a bit worse than historically seen in mid-summer.

That’s according to the latest Guidelines report from NADA Used Car Guide, which reported prices of used vehicles up to 8 years in age fell by 2.2 percent last month from June rates.

This hit about the midpoint of NADA UCG’s initial forecast of 2 percent to 2.5 percent depreciation for the month.

The report shared that this past month’s depreciation was much better than the 3.2-percent drop seen during July last year, but “it was somewhat worse than the month’s historical performance,” Jonathan Banks — senior director of vehicle analysis and analytics — wrote in the report.

As a result, NADA UCG’s seasonally adjusted used-vehicle price index fell 0.9 percent from June to 122.6.

And the price trends seen last month won’t be news to many in the industry who follow auction price trends. Once again, cars experienced dramatic depreciation in July, while utility and pickups saw much better price retention.

According to the data, subcompact car prices saw some of the biggest price declines in July, falling by an average of 4.3 percent, as one of the market’s “weakest performers.”

The report says that  since March, prices for subcompacts have dropped by 13 percent — the biggest decline out of all segments.

Compact and mid-size car prices aren’t fairing much better, as prices for the two fell by an average of 3.2 percent in July, taking rates 11 percent lower than they were at the end of Q1.

And year-over-year, subcompact and compact car prices were 2.0 percent and 7.5 percent lower in July, respectively.

“Luxury car prices have not fared any better,” Banks said, pointing out luxury car depreciation — similar to mainstream cars — has been above average over the second quarter of 2015.

Prices for luxury mid-size cars fell by 3.4 percent last month, followed by luxury compact and luxury large cars, which dropped by 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

Trucks still doing “exceptionally well”

Now, turning to those ever-popular larger models — trucks and SUVs — where the depreciation story is quite different.

Banks pointed out that trucks have done “exceptionally well.”

Here are some stats backing up that assertion:

• Compact and midsize utilities, both mainstream and luxury, dropped in price by an average of 1.6 percent from June.
• Midsize vans only dropped by 0.9 percent month-over-month.
• Large pickup prices were 7.6 percent higher than the same period last year.
• Midsize utility and large SUV segment prices were 4.2 percent and 3.8 percent higher in July than last year, respectively.

“With prices unchanged from June, large SUVs and large pickups defied depreciation’s downward pull last month. In particular, large pickups have been impressive for some time now,” Banks said.

Prices for large SUVs and large pickups have dropped by an average of just 4 percent this year.

Banks said this was “remarkable considering the thousands of additional miles and wear and tear the majority accrued over the period.”

Black Book analysts also commented on this anomaly, noting trucks continue to buck summer depreciation trends and show lighter price cuts than cars.

According to Black Book data, truck segments held seven of the top spots for strongest price retention in July. These were led by the full-size SUVs, whose prices remained unchanged from June to finish the month with an average price of $27,970.

Other truck segments with low monthly depreciation levels in July, according to Black Book, included full-size pickups (-0.1 percent), compact SUV (-0.3 percent), midsize SUVs (-0.7 percent), midsize pickups (-0.7 percent) and compact pickups (-0.7 percent).

“At a time of year when everyone expects depreciation to begin picking up steam, the truck segment continues to hold retention well helping the overall values,” said Anil Goyal, vice president of automotive valuation and analytics for Black Book. “It will be extremely interesting to see what the next few months hold with lease return supply building and new model year arriving at dealer lots.”