Perhaps the first autumn leaves are starting to fall on your lot. And according to Black Book, so are car prices.
The latest Black Book Market Insights Report highlighted that car segment depreciation has accelerated during the past two weeks, with sporty cars, midsize cars and full-size cars seeing some of the largest weekly depreciation since the start of the year.
Based on volume-weighted information, editors determined overall car segment values decreased by 0.25 percent last week. In comparison, the market values had decreased by only 0.02 percent on average during the prior four-week period.
With summertime officially in the rear-view mirror, Black Book noticed that the sporty car segment experienced the biggest drop, sliding by 0.36 percent or $56.
Values for midsize cars dipped by 0.33 percent or $29, and values for full-size cars ticked 0.32 percent or $37 lower.
Looking at volume-weighted data from the truck side, editors indicated overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — decreased by 0.13 percent last week. In comparison, the market values had declined by only 0.06 percent on average during the prior four-week period.
Within trucks, Black Book noticed the full-size luxury crossover/SUV segment performed the worst, deteriorating by 0.33 percent or $104.
Turning next to observations from Black Book’s personnel stationed at nearly 60 weekly sales nationwide, activity in the lanes picked up depending on what kind of vehicle crossed the block. Here is the rundown:
— From Michigan: “Cars with above-average mileage are softening somewhat. Truck prices are still really strong, but many believe that they have reached the top of the market.”
— From Indiana: “Retail is still good, which is dictating the wholesale market as is the continued low supply at auction.”
— From Florida: “The finance companies are able to sell their late model vehicles for good money. The older cars are struggling, even those in average condition.”
— From South Carolina: “Sellers are holding their floors, which resulted in more no-sales today. There also didn’t seem to be as much urgency to buy.”
— From Texas” “Overall a really good day with brisk bidding, which resulted in a good sales percentage and strong prices.”
By this time next year, KAR Auction Services should be nicely settled into its sterling, new headquarters.
One year after announcing its $80 million investment in central Indiana, KAR on Wednesday said its new corporate headquarters and campus in Carmel, Ind., is on track for summer 2019 completion.
Officials highlighted construction of the 250,000-square-foot office building featuring an open floorplan and broad collaborative workspaces has progressed smoothly. As construction on the new KAR global headquarters continues, the company is also further investing in its workforce with more than 1,200 current job openings in North America, of which more than 100 will be based in Indiana.
“We are creating an environment that fosters creativity, innovation and collaboration in order to attract top-notch talent to further grow our technology, fully integrate our data capabilities and take our digital and online platforms to the next level,” KAR chairman and chief executive officer Jim Hallett said.
“Our new campus will give us the additional space necessary to increase our workforce as we expand our global footprint. Its modern workplace design will inspire the entrepreneurial spirit that has helped us succeed,” who is among the industry leaders set to appear during Used Car Week 2018, which begins on Nov. 12 at the Westin Keirland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
KAR — one of the founding members of the Automotive Intelligence Council — recapped how it has made data, mobility and digital company acquisitions during the past two years. Approximately 140 of the current openings are technology-focused roles such at developers and IT professionals — nearly half will be based in Indiana.
The company’s new headquarters and campus will house its innovation, technology and data as a service divisions and serve as the U.S. headquarters for TradeRev, KAR’s mobile app-based auction subsidiary.
For nearly 30 years, KAR has made central Indiana home. Its new corporate offices will be located two miles south of KAR’s current headquarters on the northeast corner of Illinois and W. 111th streets, reaffirming the company’s longstanding commitment to Carmel and central Indiana.
The development team assisting KAR with this project includes: CBRE Group LLC, Ginovus LLC, Ice Miller, PURE Development, RATIO Architects, Shiel Sexton and US Realty.
Perhaps the industry is taking its collective foot off of the gas in regards to wholesale car prices.
Black Book shared in its latest Market Insights report that overall car segment values decreased by 0.20 percent last week. In comparison and reflecting the unusual summer it has been at the auction, volume-weighted car values had increased at an average rate of 0.05 percent per week during the previous two weeks.
Meanwhile, editors noticed overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — remained nearly flat last week. In comparison, the volume-weighted truck values had decreased at an average rate of 0.06 percent per week during the previous two weeks.
Among car segments, Black Book found that prestige luxury car and full-size car values decreased the most last week. Prestige luxury cars dropped by 0.51 percent or $171, and full-size cars dipped by 0.37 percent or $51.
Among truck segments, editors noticed that compact van values decreased the most last week, sliding by 0.89 percent or $81.
Meanwhile, Black Book’s anecdotes from the lanes collected and shared by its nearly 60 representatives at weekly sales nationwide shed light on how bidding activity might be decelerating as well. Here is the latest rundown:
— From Texas: “Prices are holding steady, which has some of the buying dealers expressing angst. They are accustomed to the typical fall drop-off, which hasn’t happened.”
— From Florida: “Vehicles with higher miles and questionable history reports continue to struggle on the dealer lanes.”
— From Arizona: “Our market seems to be slowing a bit as the sale started really strong but soon fizzled out.”
— From Georgia: “Bidders backed away from the really high floors. Passenger cars sold really well.”
— From Pennsylvania: “Still a very positive mood among the dealers here, but many expect a slight downturn soon.”
TradeRev is making a major expansion into the Southeast, arriving in five markets in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The business unit of KAR Auction Services announced on Tuesday that its dealer-to-dealer digital auction platform now can be used by dealerships and managers in the Kentucky cities of Louisville and Lexington as well as the Tennessee hubs of Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.
Dealers in those areas now can use the TradeRev mobile app and desktop solution to facilitate and participate in live bidding, one-hour wholesale vehicle auctions. Enrolled dealers will also have access to the company’s H-powered AI technology and an active network of thousands of buying and selling dealerships.
“TradeRev and KAR continue to make meaningful investments to accelerate the digital revolution and meet increasing customer demand for our digital auction solution,” said Becca Polak, president of TradeRev.
“We’re excited to help dealers in Kentucky and Tennessee expand their marketplace and sell and source inventory anytime, anywhere from coast-to-coast. And together with our sister companies at KAR, we’re also able to deliver seamlessly integrated floorplan financing and logistics solutions that simplify and streamline the auction experience,” continued Polak, one of a host of industry executives on tap to appear during Used Car Week 2018, which begins Nov. 12 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
As part of this market expansion, TradeRev mentioned that it is adding in-market sales leadership and field personnel to keep up with high enrollment demand, provide personalized dealer training and assist dealers with loading and launching cars. The markets will also be supported by TradeRev’s English, Spanish and French speaking customer service teams and a data-driven inside sales department that will ensure local dealers are rapidly integrated into TradeRev’s broad North American marketplace.
“When we launch TradeRev into a market — we make a long-term commitment to our dealer partners,” said Keith Crerar, executive vice president of U.S. sales and global operations for TradeRev.
“We don’t just airdrop a single salesperson. We deeply embed experienced, multi-functional teams that understand the auction business and the unique local needs of our dealers. Then we arm them with the industry’s best technology, data and intelligence to help our dealers move metal faster, easier and smarter than ever before,” Crerar went on to say.
Interested dealers can visit www.TradeRev.com to enroll.
North Carolina officials said that as of 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, 455 road closures remained throughout the Tar Heel State because of flooding created by Hurricane Florence making landfall more than a week ago.
But in one of the hardest hit areas — Wilmington, N.C. — vehicles will be crossing the block again. Cox Automotive sent a note to Auto Remarketing on Monday morning confirming that Manheim Wilmington has reopened. The facility plans to host its next sale on Friday.
While consignment will resume within miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the National Automobile Dealers Association shared how the impact on members in the Carolinas has been significant. The association reiterated that dealership employees affected by any natural disaster including Florence can apply here for financial assistance from the NADA Foundation.
Sims Floyd, executive vice president of the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association told NADA: “A lot of people are out of their homes. A lot of dealership employees are in and out trying to take care of their homes, so we’re dealing with that.
“And it looks like we’re going to deal with that for a while more,” Floyd added in a blog post compiled by NADA.
Perhaps a bright spot for auctions and dealers beyond the Carolinas, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Sunday night that Interstate 95 throughout North Carolina is now open to all traffic.
Cooper said floodwaters that covered the interstate following Florence receded quicker than expected, allowing the North Carolina Department of Transportation to complete the inspections and repairs needed to reopen the road.
“I-95 is a major artery for North Carolina and the entire East Coast that’s essential for commerce,” Cooper said. “Our state DOT crews and engineers have worked around the clock to get this critical interstate open ahead of schedule and reduce traffic in areas still needed for critical life-saving missions.”
The volume of late-model vehicles at auction continued to move upward in August, according to J.D. Power Valuation Services, which said full-year figures are likely to end up with a similar volume increase as last year’s uptick.
And through eight months of 2018, SUVs are showing some of the largest increases in volume.
Overall, though, there was a 13.8-percent month-over-month hike and a 5.4-percent year-over-year increase in late-model auction volume during August, J.D. Power said in its latest issue of Guidelines, defining late-model as vehicles 5 years old or newer.
Through eight months, late-model auction volume is up 4.5 percent from the same period of 2017. But by year’s end, J.D. Power is forecasting that gap will increase to 6.5 percent.
That’s a similar gain as was seen last year, when late-model auction climbed 6.6 percent, J.D. Power said. As for next year, that’s likely to be the crest of this auction volume wave, which should plateau after 2019, according to the report.
Reasons for overall late-model increase
As you might expect, the main reason for the expected full-year auction late-model volume hike in 2018 is off-lease volume, which J.D. Power forecasts will climb 14.2 percent.
Rental volume is likely to climb 8 percent.
The company is projecting regular retail purchase volume to go up 2.7 percent.
SUV volume up big
SUVs are leading the pack in terms of year-to-date late-model volume gains through August, with a 49.1-percent hike for compact premium SUVs and a 28.1-percent gain for large SUVs, according to the Guidelines report. (Cars were still outpacing trucks 52 percent to 48 percent in terms of share of volume, though).
And not only are SUVs flowing through the auction lanes, they’re now representing a core focus from automakers on the new-vehicle side.
During a phone interview earlier this month, Jonathan Banks — who is vice president of vehicle analysis and analytics for J.D. Power Valuation Services — discussed the investment that automakers have made in SUVs and crossovers and how that has affected demand.
Heavy OEM investment in crossovers, SUVs
“When you think about it, the manufacturers are investing so much on getting the design right for these products, and launching more and more products, to meet exact buyers’ preferences, to me it’s no surprise that you’re starting to see more and more demand for these products. They’re getting newer, there’s more of them — and that’s happening for both the traditional SUVs and for the crossover SUVs …,” Banks said.
“It’s funny because everyone says, ‘No one wants cars,” he said. “(However), when you start pulling away investment from one thing and invest heavily on another thing, what you’re going to do is create a substitution to whatever the newer products are.”
That said, “even if they didn’t do anything to SUVs, people would probably be migrating over,” Banks acknowledges.
In other words, the investment in these segments is kindling to that fire.
Banks said that for consumers, “you have a crossover for every solution that the cars maybe gave you. You go into dealerships now that have a whole breadth of SUV lineups, like a lot of luxury manufacturers.
“And you basically have a crossover or SUV at every price point for every person with all the different driving dynamics that you would expect, that we used to expect in cars,” he said. “So, the investment’s all there, mainstream and luxury, to where there’s a crossover for every person now.”
It has gotten to the point where the shopper doesn’t have to compromise; whether his or her taste is for off-road capabilities, smooth handily or sportiness, there is likely a model for that consumer, Banks said.
Again, the investments in these amenities are moving folks to crossovers.
“And then obviously we have fuel prices keeping everything stable overall,” Banks said. “To me, all the investment is panning out perfectly and if not anything (else), accelerating a trend that maybe would have stopped at a certain level, but accelerating that shift from car to truck buyers even more.
“And that’s why we’re probably going to see that continue, especially as we start to see … less and less investment in cars, like what Ford’s doing,” he said.
Taking away investment in cars segments will likely lead to a similar scenario as a few years back, when consumer interest moved away from cars and towards SUVs.
“We flipped back (to cars) and now we’ve flipped back again,” he said.
‘More of a long-term trend guy’
Banks caveats that with a grain of salt, though.
“I’m more of a long-term trend guy, where I think everything is exaggerated again, to where I don’t think we should bail out on cars completely nor do I think that we should stop investing in cars completely,” Banks said.
However, the market could be approaching a “paradigm shift,” where the next time the market shifts perhaps it even goes to electrics.
At any rate, he emphasizes that fuel prices are likely to go higher and cause a bit more of a financial pinch on drivers’ wallets.
“You feel it now,” he said of forecasts for $2.75/gallon gas. “And I think people are really going to feel it at $3 and cars are going to be more fuel efficient. But the fact that we’ve invested so much in crossovers, it’s no surprise that everyone’s migrating towards those segments.”
Banks is among the collection of experts on tap for Used Car Week 2018, the series of industry-leading conferences that begin on Nov. 12 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The unusual summertime wholesale price movements seen by both KAR Auction Services and J.D. Power Valuation Services might push the costs that dealers face in the lanes nearly 3 percent higher by the time the year ends.
The August price updates from both companies conveyed notable wholesale price surges, with KAR chief economist Tom Kontos calling the situation in an online video that accompanied his analysis, “a perfect storm for the used-car market in August as retail sales and wholesale values were both strong.”
He added in his latest Kontos Kommentary that, “Retail demand and upstream remarketing were key contributors to wholesale used vehicle price growth in August, as prices were up on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis.”
According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used-vehicle prices by vehicle model class, wholesale values in August averaged $11,049, which marked a 1.4-percent rise compared to July and a 0.9-percent lift relative to August of last year.
Kontos said car prices in total went up 2.2 percent month-over-month, while truck prices rose 1.0 percent, “indicating that car segments are now in better supply-demand balance.”
Meanwhile the team at J.D. Power Valuation Services shared through their latest installment of Guidelines that August prices “ended the month even stronger than expected.”
The J.D. Power Valuation Services’ Seasonally Adjusted Used Vehicle Price Index increased 2.2 points on a sequential basis to land at 121.9. The reading also jumped 6.3 points year-over-year.
The August index rise represented an increase for the third consecutive month, leaving the reading at the highest level since late 2015.
“The used-vehicle market starting showing its strength in the middle half of 2017, and there are no signs of it letting up,” analysts said in Guidelines. “Most of the market’s left in prices has been driven by mainstream car growth, however, mainstream utility segments continue to show firmness as well.”
J.D. Power Valuation Services elaborated about August car performance, noting that small-car prices rose 2 percent and prices for midsize cars ticked up by 1.5 percent.
Jonathan Banks, the company’s vice president of vehicle analysis and analytics, detailed what’s happening outside of the lanes that’s impacting car prices during a phone conversation with Auto Remarketing earlier this month
“Incentive spending is still a bit higher than what you would like to see. The car segments are still a little misaligned, but it’s getting a lot better. It was nice to see what Honda did with the Accord when sales didn’t meet their expected demand. You expect that from Honda,” said Banks, who along with Kontos are among the collection of experts on tap for Used Car Week 2018, the series of industry-leading conferences that begin on Nov. 12 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“I think we’ve reached the point where if manufacturers keep production in line with the sales we’ve been seeing the past three or four months, I think they’re pretty close, we’re seeing that people still want cars,” Banks continued. “But I think pulling back in production was the right thing to do. You would like to see incentives around 10 percent for cars, but we’re not quite there yet.”
While mainstream car prices are helping to push overall figures higher, J.D. Power Valuation Services explained why the same situation cannot be said about luxury vehicles. Again from the latest installment of Guidelines, analysts pointed to higher incentive spending as the headwind.
Turning back to Kontos and the August information from KAR, he indicated average wholesale prices for used vehicles remarketed by manufacturers rose 3.2 percent month-over-month and 2.0 percent year-over-year.
Kontos noted prices for fleet/lease consignors were up 1.5 percent sequentially and up 8.2 percent annually.
He added that average prices for dealer consignors ticked up 1.9 percent versus July and 0.6 percent compared to August of last year.
And with regard to the other ingredient for that “perfect storm,” Kontos cited data from the National Automobile Dealers Association that showed retail used vehicle sales by franchised dealers increased 4.5 percent year-over-year in August.
The rise for independent dealers was even more robust as Kontos put the year-over-year jump at 9.8 percent.
Kontos went on to mention figures from Autodata, Corp. that revealed August certified pre-owned sales 4.9 percent from the prior month and 1.8 percent year-over-year. According to Autodata, on a year-to-date basis, CPO sales are up 2.5 percent versus last year.
So with all of that activity in mind, J.D. Power Valuation Services sees wholesale prices rising by 2.9 percent by the end of 2018. Analysts acknowledged the climb might not be that much if negative price factors such as incentives, rising supply, worsening credit conditions and a jump in gas prices play bigger roles. However, they think positive factors — favorable labor conditions, strengthening housing prices and long-term quality improvements — outweigh negatives.
“There are two primary factors why the used market continues to heat up,” analysts said in Guidelines. “First, dealers are placing more emphasis on used-vehicle operations, and second, vehicle affordability is becoming increasingly important to consumers.”
Senior editor Joe Overby contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: Story is updated with reference to NIADA corrected to NADA.
ADESA Wholesale Used-Vehicle Price Trends
| |
Average |
Price |
($/Unit) |
Latest |
Month Versus |
| |
July 2018 |
June 2018 |
July 2017 |
Prior Month |
Prior Year |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total All Vehicles |
$10,902 |
$10,895 |
$10,887 |
0.1% |
0.1% |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total Cars |
$8,519 |
$8,548 |
$8,613 |
-0.3% |
-1.1% |
| Compact Car |
$6,434 |
$6,441 |
$6,582 |
-0.1% |
-2.3% |
| Midsize Car |
$7,457 |
$7,533 |
$7,633 |
-1.0% |
-2.3% |
| Full-size Car |
$7,275 |
$7,495 |
$7,018 |
-2.9% |
3.7% |
| Luxury Car |
$13,294 |
$13,172 |
$13,582 |
0.9% |
-2.1% |
| Sporty Car |
$14,225 |
$14,515 |
$14,164 |
-2.0% |
0.4% |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total Trucks |
$12,922 |
$12,901 |
$13,058 |
0.2% |
-1.0% |
| Minivan |
$7,937 |
$8,652 |
$8,604 |
-8.3% |
-7.7% |
| Full-size Van |
$13,306 |
$13,202 |
$11,875 |
0.8% |
12.1% |
| Compact SUV/CUV |
$10,805 |
$10,829 |
$10,467 |
-0.2% |
3.2% |
| Midsize SUV/CUV |
$10,992 |
$11,135 |
$11,402 |
-1.3% |
-3.6% |
| Full-size SUV/CUV |
$13,198 |
$13,499 |
$13,353 |
-2.2% |
-1.2% |
| Luxury SUV/CUV |
$18,495 |
$18,331 |
$19,099 |
0.9% |
-3.2% |
| Compact Pickup |
$9,796 |
$9,471 |
$9,615 |
3.4% |
1.9% |
| Full-size Pickup |
$16,583 |
$16,386 |
$17,061 |
1.2% |
-2.8% |
Source: ADESA Analytical Services.
There are some phonetic similarities, but there’s a key difference between the words “insurance” and “assurance.”
It boils down to protection from what you can't necessarily control (insurance), versus an added layer of protection designed to allow greater freedom for choice in decision-making (assurance).
And the latter is what is being offered through wholesale vehicle return guarantees provided by parties like DealShield, which announced Thursday it is now giving dealers the option to upgrade their DS360 Return Guarantee from 21 days to 30 days.
“Dealers should have insurance for their vehicles; that’s important. We don’t insure the vehicle, but we do give them assurance that they can return the vehicle within 21, and now 30 days, if it doesn’t meet their needs,” said Brett Woods, interim vice president of assurance at DealShield parent company Cox Automotive, in a phone interview.
Stu Dressler, who is interim leader and senior director of operations at DealShield, added: “What we really do is allow them to make choices. And that’s the big difference. With insurances, you’re protecting against things you can’t make the choice on. You can’t choose whether you’re going to have a fire or a flood.
“But you can make your own choices on whether you want to keep or return a vehicle.”
Choice. That’s the crux of the return guarantee provided by DealShield and the reason behind allowing dealers an extra nine days to return wholesale purchases.
And some dealers are using this to expand their wholesale sourcing strategy, knowing they will be protected should the plan not pan out.
How DS360 guarantee works
Through the guarantee, should a subscribing dealer buy a wholesale car at a participating auction then decide he or she does not want it — for any reason — the dealer can bring the vehicle back to any auction in the DealShield network and receive a full refund.
DealShield says there is no arbitration and no questions asked.
The original window to return the vehicle was 21 days, and that is still being offered. But if dealers wish to upgrade, they can now have 30 days to return the vehicle.
“We’re just in constant feedback mode with our dealers,” Woods said. “It’s really as simple as them asking for more time to help them support their business. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for: to make it easy for them and really help them grow. And we think we can do that even better with a 30-day guarantee, for some dealers.”
Dressler added: “Each dealer has a unique value proposition in the way they use the products. For example, some of them wanted a little more time to be able to check out the vehicle and see if they have any concerns about it. Some of them wanted a little more time to get it on their lot and see how they’re feeling about if from a consumer-interest perspective – there’s just any number of reasons, because there’s so many different ways that the dealers use the product for their economic benefit.”
Expanding beyond a 'niche'
In a news release announcing the extension option, Woods mentions that some dealers utilize DealShield to “take chances on riskier inventory” that could end up benefitting their stores.
That might be cars out of the typical price ranges in which a dealer buys or in different markets from where the dealer usually shops, Woods said in the phone interview.
Dressler said that from a geographical standpoint, dealers have utilized this guarantee program for a bit of added confidence in wideing their wholesale sourcing to additional markets or auctions.
And an example of a dealer broadening its horizon on the pricing side, Dressler pointed to a Florida franchised dealership that was having a lot of success in used cars, albeit within a certain “niche.” So, the store wanted to try expanding.
“And it wasn’t that they were taking on riskier vehicles, per se. It was that they were not comfortable in a lower-price segment, because it just wasn’t something they had a lot of experience with,” Dressler said.
“So they used the guarantee literally to start buying vehicles at a lower price point to attract a different buyer than what they had. And it really grew their used-car sales,” he said. “The used the guarantee to give them that confidence to grow that part of their used business and really open up a new market to them.”
Auction Management Solutions (AMS) expanded its client portfolio again earlier this month.
Now leveraging the firm for business development consulting is Lake Charles Auto Auction (LCAA) located in Lake Charles, La.
Established in 1991, Lake Charles Auto Auction was started by Mike Pedersen as a two-lane night sale, catering to independent dealers in the area. Today, the operation is run by the second generation, Mike’s son Matt, who purchased the auction from his father in 2012.
Matt Pedersen said, “It has been such an honor to learn this business from the ground up, and we are very excited to take the auction to the next level.”
LCAA expanded the facility in 2015 to a four-lane auction and are now about to complete a $2 million renovation to the main office building, including creating additional dealer parking.
“We are very excited to get into the new building to better serve our dealers. We expect to be moved in by the end of October,” Matt Pedersen said.
“We have spent a lot of time building a great base of dealer consignment business over the last several years, and we feel that it is time now to start to expand deeper into the world of national consignors,” Pedersen went on to say. “We feel that AMS can be a great help to achieve our goals.”
AMS’ auction partnerships now include 24 operations from coast to coast.
“We are very excited to have LCAA join the AMS group of independent auctions,” AMS president Tom Stewart. “We started AMS with a focus of partnering with independent auctions to assist in growing their business, helping them utilize marketing efforts to increase their presence in the market, and to increase profitability.
“We have a proven sales strategy that delivers proven results for our auction partners,” Stewart went on to say.
Cox Automotive is holding steady with its estimates of vehicle damage from Hurricane Florence as flooding reaches near record levels in some places in North Carolina.
The analyst team led by Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke initially estimated last week that 20,000 to 40,000 vehicles could be lost due to flooding in the Carolinas. The latest update showed that estimate has not changed as the area tries to recover from this hurricane that the National Weather Service said dumped an estimated 8 trillion gallons of water.
All of that water is eventually working its way back to the Atlantic Ocean through waterways such as the Cape Fear River, which officials expect to crest this week in Fayetteville, N.C., at 61.6 feet, about 7 feet below the all-time high set in 1945.
Of course, during the process, vehicles in the path of flooding could be damaged if they haven’t been already. The scenes have triggered reminders of what happened last year after Hurricane Harvey deluged Houston with the most rainfall ever recorded during a single storm in U.S. history.
“We’ve been asked many times how this event differs from the devastating floods in Houston last year. From a business point of view, one difference is the current volume of used-car inventory,” Smoke said in Cox Automotive’s latest commentary.
“We’ve seen wholesale supplies tighten this year, and retail inventory has been moving more rapidly as a result. These are clear signs that demand continues to outpace supply,” he continued. “Going into last weekend, we had started to see more stabilization after values rose for the last three months, reaching an all-time record in August.
“Even though the replacement need will be smaller in this case, we could see values increase temporarily especially in the region due to limited supply,” Smoke went on to say.
“Hurricane Florence and its aftermath, however, will not have the notable impact on the larger U.S. vehicle market that we saw with Harvey, where an estimated 600,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed, impacting both supply and demand,” he added.
The National Automobile Dealers Association reiterated that its philanthropic division is ready to provide help to member store employees impacted by Florence. Applications for assistance and a path to make donations can be found here.
“There are so many heroes to thank. The rescuers who are risking their lives to pull people from flood waters. The law enforcement and firefighters who are working around the clock. The nurses and doctors, the pilots, the utility workers. From the people of North Carolina, I say thank you,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in a news release.
