Used Cars Outperforming Trucks at Auction

Used cars of all sizes outperformed trucks, vans, and larger SUVs at wholesale auctions in March, Black Book is reporting.

Six of the eight top-performing vehicle segments were cars, and the other two were smaller SUVs. Compact cars topped the list with a 2.5% increase in value to $9,349 compared to February. The segment has depreciated 14.3% in the past year.

Overall, vehicles depreciated 0.4%, which was an improvement from February's 1.1% depreciation level. Cars increased in value by 0.6%, while trucks decreased 1.1%. All vehicles depreciated 15% from a year ago.

Other car segments also performed well, including subcompact cars (up 1.3% to $7,187); sporty cars (up 1% to $13,597); full-size cars (up 0.6% to $14,439); and midsize cars (up 0.5% to $11,509).

Smaller SUVs also fared well, as subcompact SUVs increased 0.7% to $12,494, while compact SUVs increased 0.1% to $13,674). Compact vans were the only other segment that increased in value, moving up 0.2% to $11,187.

Other fleet categories were slightly lower, including full-size pickups (down 1.3% to $24,968) and full-size vans (down 0.8% to $18,308). In the past year, these segments have depreciated 9.2% and 9.3% respectively. Luxury SUVs saw the heaviest depreciation in March with subcompact luxury SUVs falling 2.6% to $18,639.

Black Book tracks wholesale sales of 2012 to 2016 model year vehicles.