LOS ANGELES — Bill Walters, vice president of remarketing at Westlake Financial Services, recently summed up some of the trends his company has been witnessing in the market.

While the industry as a whole has been seeing higher prices in the auction lanes, so too has Westlake.

"Like many sellers of older-model used vehicles, Westlake Financial Services experienced a dramatic improvement in resale prices during 2010," said Walters. "Following a flat 2009, Westlake saw a 30-percent year-over-year gain in 2010. Westlake's primary vehicle segment, 2000 to 2005 model years, has seen considerable pricing strength over the past 18 months, largely due to limited supply, consumer downsizing and a slow improvement in the economy."

He explained that Westlake further helped bolster results via targeted buyer promotions as well as the introduction of a BMC Gold certification program, which spotlights select later-model vehicles.

Moreover, Walters revealed, "This year featured implementation of the company's scoring model for evaluating auction performance. This grading has helped us identify and address performance issues, and compare results across our nationwide network of auctions."

Looking at year-over-year vehicle segment pricing changes, the vice president said Westlake saw a divergence between sedan and truck/SUVs.

"While truck and SUV prices began showing strong improvement in May 2009, prices on sedans didn't recover until the fall with the Cash for Clunkers program. Price increases on truck/SUVs have slowed since the second quarter of 2010, while sedan prices have trended higher against the weaker comparisons," Walters said.

"Heading into 2011, we expect prices on older used vehicles to remain strong despite a slowing rate of increase as the factors that have been moving the market for the past two years remain in place," he continued.

"Regionally, we expect to see particular strength in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest markets, as well as improving conditions in California. Only a shift in consumer behavior is likely to change this in the near term, but the backdrop of weak housing and labor markets and still high consumer debt levels should inhibit any major shift toward new and near-new vehicles," he concluded.