Used Commercial Truck Market in "Wait and See" Mode

MCLEAN, VA -- December 14, 2015: Earlier this morning, NADA Used Car Guide, a division of J.D. Power and Associates, released a report of the commercial truck market's November performance. Analysts at the industry's leading provider of vehicle valuation products observed commercial truck wholesale auction volume dropped during the month, while incoming fourth quarter sales data appeared to look stronger than expected.

Auction volume decreased dramatically in November, thanks to fewer auctions on the calendar and a typically less active purchasing environment going into winter. For the three most popular models sold at auction this year, volume of 3 – 5 year-old units went from 254 in October, to 95 in November.

When asked about how the year performed as a whole, NADA Used Car Guide's Chris Visser, a senior analyst, said "For now, the tail is not wagging the dog. It may be hard to believe, but looking at the year overall, and including all models, we estimate the 3 – 5 year-old sleeper segment lost only 5 percent of its value from 2014 to 2015."

The report forecasts that the ever-increasing price of new commercial trucks will continue to keep an incrementally higher proportion of buyers in the used market, but supply is by far the more critical factor currently.

Visser stated, "We expect monthly depreciation to remain around 2 percent in the wholesale channel, and 1.5 percent in the retail channel, through the winter."