Tom Kontos succinctly summarized his opinion about how the wholesale market behaved to begin 2020.
“The new year started with a bang as wholesale used vehicle prices were up on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis in January,” the KAR Global chief economist said in his latest installment of the Kontos Kommentary.
“Just as in previous months, however, overall prices for the car segments were softer than for the truck segments,” Kontos continued.
According to KAR Global Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used-vehicle prices by model class, analysts determined wholesale prices in January averaged $11,096, representing a 2.5% lift compared to December and a 3.1% rise versus January of last year.
“Average prices were again down on a year-over-year basis for car segments in total, while they were up overall for the truck segments,” Kontos said.
“The reverse was again true for midsize cars versus midsize SUVs/crossovers in the off-lease market segment as the former may be in short supply due to dealers preferentially obtaining midsize cars upstream and leaving fewer of these units available for buyers at physical auction,” he went on to say.
Kontos offered a deeper dive those particular off-lease units, holding constant for sale type, model-year-age, mileage and model class segment. KAR Global found prices rose on a year-over-year basis for both midsize cars and midsize SUV/CUVs that fit into this wholesale bucket — roughly 3 years old and less than 45,000 miles.
Prices for those particular midsize cars climbed 7.0% or $834 year-over-year in January to $12,702, while prices for those specific midsize SUV/CUVs edged 1.0% or $203 higher to $20,524.
Kontos went on to mention average wholesale prices for used vehicles remarketed by manufacturers in January slid 3.0% month-over-month but increased 7.1% year-over-year.
He added that prices for fleet/lease consignors in January jumped 3.2% sequentially and 5.9% annually.
Finally, Kontos pointed out that average January prices for dealer consignors increased 1.8% versus December and 3.5% relative to January of last year.
| Average | Price | ($/Unit) | Latest | Month Versus | |
| January 2020 | December 2019 | January 2019 | Prior Month | Prior Year | |
| Total All Vehicles | $11,096 | $10,822 | $10,761 | 2.5% | 3.1% |
| Total Cars | $8,269 | $8,130 | $8,374 | 1.7% | -1.3% |
| Compact Car | $6,277 | $6,068 | $6,495 | 3.4% | -3.4% |
| Midsize Car | $7,278 | $7,131 | $7,394 | 2.1% | -1.6% |
| Full-size Car | $7,462 | $7,241 | $7,729 | 3.0% | -3.5% |
| Luxury Car | $12,649 | $12,700 | $12,771 | -0.4% | -1.0% |
| Sporty Car | $13,779 | $13,496 | $13,044 | 2.1% | 5.6% |
| Total Trucks | $13,165 | $12,872 | $12,793 | 2.3% | 2.9% |
| Minivan | $7,933 | $7,568 | $8,496 | 4.8% | -6.6% |
| Full-size Van | $12,864 | $11,921 | $12,585 | 7.9% | 2.2% |
| Compact SUV/CUV | $10,866 | $10,449 | $10,962 | 4.0% | -0.9% |
| Midsize SUV/CUV | $11,897 | $11,275 | $11,192 | 5.5% | 6.3% |
| Full-size SUV/CUV | $13,767 | $13,558 | $13,957 | 1.5% | -1.4% |
| Luxury SUV/CUV | $18,394 | $18,336 | $17,613 | 0.3% | 4.4% |
| Compact Pickup | $11,063 | $10,899 | $9,734 | 1.5% | 13.7% |
| Full-size Pickup | $16,168 | $15,996 | $15,552 | 1.1% | 4.0% |
Source: KAR Global Analytical Services.
Source : AutoFinanceNews
