by Jon LeSage, editor of Used Car Market Reports
When I take another look at the content in this week’s Used Car Market Reports, a few ideas pop out…..
- We’ve been hearing about softening used car prices in wholesale and retail for a few months now, but when you look at the big picture, it’s still a very strong market.
- For the month of August, Art Spinella and the CNW Research team see the sales volume go up and that dealers are turning inventory quicker.
- Prices are down for franchised and independent dealers, but they seem to be making it up in sales volume.
- Tom Kontos says that prices continued to soften in July, but a bit less than in June.
- While prices were down 1.3% in July compared to June – and were the same percentage down compared to one year ago – the price blow has been cushioned by retail demand, Kontos said.
- The supply of used cars has been growing and that can soften prices. But take a look at the Used Vehicle Financing August 2013 chart for this week. It’s referencing this month’s CNW Research report with days’ supply, inventory turns, pricing, and flooring. It’s showing a lot stability in the used vehicle market.
- Take a look at the latest Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. Prices have been softening, and moving up and down, consistently since early 2011 – but that was right after hitting an astronomical peak – the largest by far since the Manheim Index started up in January 1995.
- All things in perspective, the used vehicle market appears to be healthy. It certainly helps to see the wholesale and retail markets staying strong and dealing well with the changing remarketing landscape.
