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Vehicle Market Report: May 2023

May reported overall wholesale vehicle prices declines for the first time since early February.

Hillary Weiss
Hillary WeissSenior Editor
June 9, 2023
Vehicle Market Report: May 2023

Vehicle Market Report for May 2023 saw a decrease in wholesale prices. 

Photo: Work Truck

2 min to read


As April saw continuous gains in wholesale vehicle prices, May reported overall declines for the first time since early February.

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In the last two weeks of April, 8 to 16 years old units started showing signs of decreased value, and this depreciation trend further accelerated into the first week of May, resulting in a decline of -0.15%, according to Black Book.

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In comparison, the units falling within 2 to 8 years experienced a decrease of -0.10%, while the vehicles aged 0 to 2 years remained stable in their value throughout the previous week.

And throughout May, they continued to decline. However, truck segments reported an acceleration in the depreciation rate and the most significant single week decline since late January of this year at the end of May.

The weekly price change of the overall wholesale market. 

Source: Black Book

Truck Wholesale Prices

At the beginning of May, the Truck segment, measured by volume-weighted data, experienced a decrease of -0.12% in value, in contrast to the previous week's increase of +0.17%. Out of the 13 Truck segments, only four reported increases in their value last week, marking the lowest number of segments showing growth since the beginning of February.

Commercial Vehicle Trends: Increasing Inventory & Continued Demand

On the other hand, Pickup trucks, including both Small and Full-Size variants, continued to increase, albeit at a decelerating pace. Small Pickup trucks experienced a growth of +0.10%, while Full-Size Pickup trucks saw a slight increase of +0.09%.

As for the last week in May, the volume-weighted data indicated a decrease of -0.32% in the overall Truck segment, a more significant decline than the previous week's decrease of -0.16%, according to Black Book experts.

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Out of the 13 Truck segments, three segments reported increases in their value during the same period.

Unfortunately, the Full-Size Van segment faced a significant setback, experiencing the largest decline in value last week at -1.00%. This decline represents the most substantial drop for this segment since 2019.

The weekly change of truck and SUV wholesale prices.

Source: Black Book

Missed Last Month's? — Vehicle Market Report: April 2023

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