LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

If consignors were football teams, how they’re approaching the current wholesale market might be similar to how the gridiron participants can move the ball down the field. Some football teams methodically run the ball, gaining yards in small chunks. Other squads throw the ball deep downfield to get significant yardage quickly.

Consignors appear to be behaving similarly at the auction based on the anecdotes shared by Black Book through its latest COVID-19 Market Insights released on Tuesday.

“Remarketing strategies are widely varying right now with some remarketers finding themselves low on volume and holding firm to floors, while others are seeing volumes rise and are finding the need to aggressively sell off units,” Black Book said in the newest report.

“Overall sales rates this past week increased with many remarketers ready to strike deals with dealers,” analysts continued. “The auctions with buyers and sellers physically present are able to take advantage of the situation and have successful in-lane negotiating.”

Black Book reiterated that dealerships are seeing softer retail demand as the holiday season ramps up. Managers who are adding store inventory are being selective about which units they might pluck out of the sales.

“High-condition scores and low-mileage units continue to garner the most attention on the lanes,” Black Book said. “But as new retail units are seeing increases in incentives levels, it is starting to show signs of softening the used market.”

Analysts added one other component that’s influencing how aggressive consignors might be.

“Repossessions still aren’t showing up in any volume on the lanes, but we are starting to see voluntary repossessions available in small quantities,” analysts said.

“This is traditionally a slower time of year for repossessions so the expectation is that portion of the used market will pick up in 2021,” analysts added.

Latest value movements

Also in the latest COVID-19 Market Insights, Black Book shared its usual rundown of wholesale value movements.

Beginning with volume-weighted car information, analysts indicated overall car segment values decreased 0.80% during the past week, a slight increase above the previous week’s depreciation reading of 0.78%.

Black Book pointed out that values for compact cars now have declined for 16 weeks in a row. Analysts computed the average weekly depreciation rate during that stretch is “a staggering” 0.93%.

Analysts also noticed that the traditional seasonal decline is the sporty car segment has intensified since the middle of October. This past week, sporty cars softened by 1.05%.

“The niche, low volume premium sporty car segment has been an outlier throughout the pandemic with much smaller weekly changes compared to the overall market and compared to traditional seasonal behavior,” Black Book said about that particular segment that has sustained only an average weekly decline of 0.16% during the past eight weeks.

Moving along to the truck space, Black Book’s volume-weighted data showed that overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — declined 0.42% last week. That wasn’t quite the drop analysts spotted a week earlier when the drop came in at 0.68%. 

While not quite at the pace posted by compact cars, Black Book said values of minivans are in the midst of a significant stretch of decreases, too. That streak now is at 14 consecutive weeks with an average weekly drop of 0.70%, according to analysts.

Black Book again mentioned the increased demand for delivery vans brought about by the pandemic and increased online shopping continues to give strength to the full-size van segment, which is seeing lower than normal weekly declines. This past week, the dip was just 0.16%. 

Finally, the value drop for full-size trucks came in at 0.46% last week and below the previous week’s decline of 0.57%. “these are declines more on the level of what we saw in the early days of the pandemic,” analysts said.