Used-vehicle depreciation improved toward the end of 2013 with vehicles depreciating 12.8 percent during the year, a slight pullback from the 12.4 percent rate in the prior year, reports Black Book.

Depreciation rates steadily improved from October's rate of 2.1 percent. Vehicles depreciated 1.7 percent in November and 1.4 percent in December, which is in line with pre-recession depreciation.

For the full year, full-size pickups led the way by depreciating only 5.8 percent. They commanded an average price of $23,269 in 2013. Other categories that handily beat the 2013 average included mid-size pickups (6.4 percent), compact SUVs (6.7 percent), compact pickups (8.1 percent), and full-size SUVs (8.3 percent).

"Truck segments had a strong year overall but saw more retention turbulence in December," said Ricky Beggs, editorial director and senior vice president of Black Book. "While new-car sales brought more trades back into the market, a large number of older-model trade-ins kept later models' wholesale demand strong for dealers to replenish inventories at wholesale."

With gasoline prices in check, used-vehicle buyers are gravitating toward larger light-duty vehicles and shying away from luxury cars and full-size CUVs, which registered the sharpest declines in value.

The prestige luxury car category depreciated an average of 17.2 percent in 2013, followed by full-size CUVs (16.9 percent), which includes such vehicles as the GMC Arcadia, Buick Enclave, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKT, Audi Q7, Cadillac SRX, and Chevrolet Traverse. Prestige luxury cars commanded an average price of $35,390 while full-size CUVs sold for $19,941 during the year.

Other categories significantly below the 2013 average included entry mid-size car (16.5 percent), entry level car (15.7 percent), full-size car (15.4 percent), and sporty car (15.4 percent).

In December, domestic cars depreciated 1.6 percent. Other categories included import cars (1.3 percent), domestic trucks (2 percent), and import trucks (1 percent). Black Book tracks sales of vehicles from the 2008-2012 model years.

Related:

Pickup, SUV Auction Values Strongest In Nov.

Wholesale Market Keeps the Industry Flowing