LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

With dealer consignment activity softening for a variety of reasons, the newest Black Book Market Insights report showed that small cars continue to feel heavy depreciation.

And editors added that small crossovers are also sustaining larger valuation drops, as well.

Out of all vehicle categories within the car segment, the report indicated sub-compact cars declined the most, dropping by 0.68 percent.

“The smallest vehicles, including sub-compact car, sub-compact crossover and sub-compact luxury crossover, have experienced heavier depreciation levels as gas prices remain low,” said Anil Goyal, Black Book’s senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics.

Reviewing volume-weighted data, Black Book found that overall car segment values decreased by 0.35 percent last week, slightly lower than the average weekly decrease of 0.39 percent in values over the previous four weeks.

As Goyal referenced, sub-compact car, mid-size car, prestige luxury car and compact car segments declined the most by 0.68 percent, 0.53 percent, 0.50 percent and 0.48 percent, respectively.

Looking again at volume-weighted information, Black Book determined overall truck segment values — including pickup, SUVs and vans — dipped by 0.23 percent last week, similar to the average weekly decrease of 0.24 percent in values recorded during the previous four weeks.

Editors mentioned sub-compact luxury crossover and compact van were the worst performing truck segments, while pickup trucks values remained flat last week.

Turning next to what Black Book gathered from its representatives in the lanes, it seemed the talk at auctions revolved around dealer consignment.

The dialogue began out West with a lane watcher in Washington noting, “A new-car dealer says that they are keeping most of their trade-in inventory if the vehicles meet some minimal requirements.”

Sliding into the Midwest, a similar story appeared in Indiana as Black Book’s representative reported, “Consignment is still down here. with more buyers than sellers at the auction. The really nice, clean vehicles remain scarce.”

And the topic of dealer consignment percolated in Georgia, too, with the auction observer noting, “The trend of softer values is continuing here. No-sales were higher in the dealer-consigned lanes and the vehicles that did sell had low prices.”

The three other reports Black Book received from its staff in the field touched on a wide array of themes, and they came from various parts of the country, too.

From California: “The market appears to be cooling down. No-sales were more prominent today.”

From Pennsylvania: “A dealer said he is buying in the $8,000 to $15,000 price range with no real concern about the year model of the vehicles. Decent trucks are going to be much older at that price point.”

And out of Texas: “A wholesaler said that he is struggling to find 3- to 5-year-old units with low mileage.”