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’s Black Book Market Insights report shows both car and truck segments retaining their values better than they have in the past nine months. Sub-Compact Cars, Compact Cars, Compact Crossover/SUV’s and Compact Vans preformed the best, depreciating -0.06 percent or less.

“Good sales and optimism from auction buyers reported across the country. Both car segments and light truck segments showed good retention in values with depreciation levels lowest in nine months,” said Anil Goyal, Senior Vice President of Automotive Valuation and Analytics.

• Volume-weighted, overall car values decreased by 0.35% last week. This is better than the average depreciation rate of 0.43% seen in the previous four weeks.
• In car segments, Premium Sporty Car, Prestige Luxury Car, Sporty Car, and Near Luxury Car segments declined the most, dropping by 0.75%, 0.59%, 0.56% and 0.54%, respectively.
• Volume-weighted, overall truck values decreased by 0.20% last week. This is better than the average depreciation rate of 0.42% seen in the previous four weeks.
• In truck segments, Sub-Compact Crossover, Full-Size Van, Full-Size Crossover/SUV and Mid-Size Luxury Crossover/SUV segments declined the most, dropping by 0.70%, 0.55%, 0.49% and 0.48%, respectively.

Specialty Report

Collectibles: If the January auctions are any indication, and they usually are, 2017 is going to be a very good year for collectible vehicles.  Mecum’s Kissimmee, Florida sale, followed closely by Barrett-Jackson, Russo and Steele, RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Gooding, Worldwide, and Silver in the Scottsdale, Arizona area, were very well attended, both in person and electronically (television and Internet). 

Recreational Vehicles: Just when you think the markets have stabilized and settled into long established seasonal patterns, they do something to surprise you.  Both motorized and towable units shook off their recent losses and posted impressive gains for the month. 

Powersports: The Powersports Market is off to a slow start this year as auction activity and pricing, which usually begin to pick up steam sometime between December and January, have remained relatively flat so far this year.

Heavy-Duty Trucks: With less than half the volume in January than we saw at auction in December, it seems, for the moment, that demand has lined up with supply resulting in very little late model depreciation for month one of 2017.

Medium-Duty Trucks: Medium Duty segments dropped a bit more in January compared to the previous four months. This past month, the 2006 -2013 models depreciated an average of $278 or 1.50%. The 2014 – 2015 models dropped an average of $498 or 1.2%.

Click here to download the full report.