J.D. Power: Wholesale Used Vehicle Prices Decline in May

Staff Report

Friday, June 16th, 2017

Used vehicle analysts at J.D. Power Valuation Services note in their June 2017 Used Car and Light Truck Guidelines Industry Update that May wholesale prices declined by an average of 1.9 percent.

Major findings in the free monthly report also point out:

  • J.D. Power Valuation Services' used vehicle price index increased.

    • Index rose 0.8 percent to 111.1.

  • New monthly vehicle deliveries fell once again.

    • Sales declined 0.6 percent,

    • New vehicle SAAR reached 16.58M.

  • Incentive spending grew by double digits.

    • Average spending per unit increased 11.9 percent.

When asked about May's 1.9 percent price drop, David Paris, executive analyst at J.D. Power Valuation Services said, "It's normal to see a drop the fifth month of the year. However, this May was a little different since the decline slightly outperformed what we've seen during the month the past 20 years."

Paris went on to say, "While the index may have increased by 0.8 percent during May, it was 7.6 percent below May of last year. That said, we expect wholesale prices of 8-year-old or younger vehicles to drop about 1.9 percent during June. We still expect prices to decline by about 6 percent for the year as a whole."