Full-size pickups continue to carry wholesale prices

Full-size pickups typically can transport heavy loads with relative ease.

And those units evidently can carry wholesale prices for an extended stretch, too.

On Monday, Black Book released its Used Vehicle Retention Index for October, pointing out how the movement might have been more pronounced if not for the influence of those full-size pickups.

The October reading came in at 129.9, dipping just 0.9 points from September.

“The market level Index decreased slightly in October,” Black Book senior vice president of data science Alex Yurchenko said in a news release. “Without the strength in the full-size pickup segment, the market level decline would’ve been significantly sharper.

“We project the continuation of weakening of most of the segments, including full-size pickups, in the next several months as the economy remains weak and there is an expected glut of used supply,” Yurchenko continued.

The Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index is calculated using Black Book’s published wholesale average value on 2- to 6-year-old used vehicles, as a percent of original typically equipped MSRP. It is weighted based on registration volume and adjusted for seasonality, vehicle age, mileage and condition.

The index dates to January 2005 when Black Book published a benchmark index value of 100.0 for the market. During 2008, the index dropped by 14.1% while during 2016, the index fell by just 6.4%.

During 2011, the index rose strongly from 113.3 to 123.0 by the end of the year as the economy picked up steam and used vehicle values rose higher. It continued to remain relatively stable, rising slightly until May of 2014 when it hit a peak of 128.1.

To obtain a copy of the latest Black Book Wholesale Value Index, go to this website.