According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2011-2015 depreciated by -0.6% in March. Cars overall saw depreciation of –0.3% versus trucks, which saw –0.8% depreciation. All vehicles are averaging a 12-month depreciation change of –17.9%.

In March, four vehicles including Compact Cars, Sporty Cars, Compact Vans and Full Size Vans, increased in value. Out of those vehicles, Compact Vans preformed the best, increasing by +2.1% in value. Vehicles in this segment include the Chevrolet City Express, Ford Transit Connect, Mercedes-Benz Metris, Nissan NV and the Ram C/V. Vehicles in this category finished March with an average segment price of $9,813, +2.1% higher than in February ($9,613). However, Compact Vans have depreciated -20.9% from its year-ago price of $12,413.

One segment, Full-Size Crossover/SUVs, managed to retain their price relatively unchanged. Vehicles in this segment include the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, Dodge Durango, Ford Expedition, GMC Yukon and the Nissan Armada. Full-Size Crossover/SUVs ended last month with an average segment price of $25,016, a -14.9% drop from its price a year ago ($29,398).

Prestige Luxury Cars had the highest depreciation of all segments, dropping -3.7% in March. Vehicles in this segment include the Audi A8, Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the BMW 7-Series. Vehicles in this category began April with an average segment price of $35,939, a -26.7% decline since last year’s value of $49,000.

"Vehicle retention values remain relatively stable as we move through the spring season," said Anil Goyal, Senior Vice President of Automotive Valuation and Analytics. "Perhaps a mostly mild winter helped generate some sales momentum in early spring, and we’re seeing a lot of typical patterns particularly among car segments, despite much talk of low demand over the past several months.”

About Black Book

Black Book^® is best known in the automotive industry for providing timely, independent and accurate vehicle pricing information, and is available to industry-qualified users through online subscription products, mobile applications and licensing agreements. A leading provider since 1955, Black Book has continuously evolved to ensure that it achieves its goal of delivering mission-critical information to its customers, along with the insight necessary to successfully buy, sell, and lend. Black Book data is published daily by National Auto Research, a division of Hearst Business media, and the company maintains offices in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland. For more information, please visit BlackBook.com or call 800.554.1026.