I am looking to get some ideas and thoughts from industry professionals about what topics you enjoy reading about.

It's no secret that many of our peers are often writing books about specific topics that are designed to help the industry. My goal is to write a book…

Book Values and Your Customer

How much money would you have if you got a dime every time you heard this phrase from a customer; “KBB says my vehicles is worth more than you are giving me.” How you respond next can make or break a sale…but if your dealership is beholden to book values, you are now in the unfavorable position of having to justify your price, against a price your customer trusts. (I’m going to go ahead and assume we are all clear on the problem of…

Book Values Matter, But…

I first want to start off by saying that I understand certain book values are a vital part of your business.  Depending on what part of the country you live in, getting a loan approved on a car is not possible without having an accurate NADA or KBB book-out within the finance packet sent to the bank for funding.

With that being said, dealers I’ve spoken with have become too beholden to their book value…

All Car Segments Declined While Full-Size Vans Increased  

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes.

The team of Black Book editors are seeing more signs that the summer slowdown is taking shape. All car segments saw a decreasing change in values this past week, and comments straight from the lanes tell us dealer…

Car Values Continue the Slide Down While Pickups Remain Strong  

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

This week, the Black Book editors received feedback from the lanes with comments such as: “Dealers feel that the…

Black Book Lender Solutions announces it has released its latest white paper, “Collateral Insight Is Critical To 84-Month Auto Loans”, where Black Book takes a look at how collateral data impacts the decision to expand a portfolio with longer-term loans.



Several factors are driving longer-term auto loans today: The desire to expand lender portfolios; rising vehicle transaction prices; and the need to…

Black Book, the provider of independent valuation data for cars, trucks, collectibles and specialty vehicles, has analyzed auction prices of exotic collectibles, with particular emphasis on the Aston Martin DB5 Coupe, the Ferrari 250 GTL Lusso, and the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. From 1977 through 2008, each vehicle appreciated in value roughly 5% annually. Since 2008, these vehicles have appreciated between 20% - 60% annually. A new, younger generation of collector has taken to this genre…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

The Black Book editors identified an increasing number of car segments displaying greater week-over-week depreciation from data within the auction lanes. In fact, Near Luxury Cars was the only car segment with a positive…

According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2009-2013 was largely unchanged in April, with 0.0% registered depreciation during the month. Domestic cars increased +1.1%; import cars changed -0.8%; domestic trucks increased +1.5%; and import trucks changed -0.2%. Average pre-recession annual depreciation was continually recorded between -15% and -18%, and Black Book expects 2015 depreciation near -14.5%.



Premium Sporty Cars saw the largest…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

The Black Book editors are tracking a continued pattern of strength across several truck segments, with particular emphasis on crossovers. For car segments, the Black Book editors are noticing growing weakness among…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

The Black Book editors began to see signs of a tiring spring tax season in last week’s report, and this week those signs have become more obvious. This week’s data showed the largest drop off of the spring for…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

In this week’s report, the Black Book editorial team reports on data trends straight from the auction lanes that may be showing signs of a tired tax season. Comments from the lanes and data show that used…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

In this week’s report, the Black Book editorial team identifies a continuation of strength, particularly for smaller car segments. Compact Cars (+0.52%), Entry-Level Cars (+0.45%) and Entry Mid-Size Cars (+0.15%)…

Black Book today announced that Barrett Teague has joined the company serving as Vice President of Lender Solutions. A 20-year automotive finance industry veteran, Teague is responsible for overseeing strategic operations to help Black Book’s automotive lender clients leverage vehicle data and collateral analytics for profitable portfolio management and expansion.

 

“We look forward to the leadership Barrett brings to the Black Book Lender Solutions team, especially given his…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

In this week's report, the Black Book editorial team takes a close look at this past week's valuation trends, with a special insiders look at activity within the Specialty Markets. Tax season buying and selling…

According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2009-2013 depreciated by an average of -0.7% during March, slightly less depreciation than during February. Domestic cars increased +0.9%; import cars changed -0.9%; domestic trucks changed -0.3%; and import trucks changed -0.9%. Average pre-recession annual depreciation was continually recorded between -15% and -18%, and Black Book expects 2015 depreciation near -14.5%.

 

Luxury SUVs saw the largest…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

In this week's report, the Black Book editorial team takes a close look at this past week's valuation trends. As we see the beginning of April finding the industry, there are some surprising segments finding…

Black Book, a leading provider of electronic data and insight to the automotive industry, today announced the appointment of Chris du Toit to vice president, Product Management. The announcement was made by Tom Cross, president of Black Book, and the appointment is effective immediately.



In this newly created role, du Toit has responsibility for leading product strategy and product management for all Black Book product offerings. du Toit will focus on enhancing existing products as…

Introducing the new Black Book Market Insights, a weekly report capturing the latest vehicle valuation trends straight from the auction lanes and reported as it happens by Black Book’s team of editors. The data, trends and insights delivered weekly in this report will help you make the right decisions to identify growth opportunities and maximize profit potential. This week is the second issue, covering the latest trends and data impacting the automotive industry here in late…