LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia – Black Book, a division of Hearst that provides industry-leading used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions, released its Used Vehicle Retention Index for April 2021 (152.4), an 11.2 points (or 8.0%) increase from February (141.2). The Index currently stands 43% above where it was the same time last year, during initial economic shut down due to  COVID-19.

“Wholesale prices continued their ascent each week in April, although the rate of increase declined slightly at the end of the month,” said Alex Yurchenko, SVP, Data Science and Analytics. “Demand for used and new vehicles remained strong but available inventory continued to decline. This elevated demand and low inventory coupled with low incentives levels on new vehicles helped the retention index to increase for the fourth month in the row. This month, all segments showed increases, with Compact Car and Minivans having the largest gains.”   

The Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index is calculated using Black Book’s published Wholesale Average value on two- to six-year-old used vehicles, as percent of original typically equipped MSRP. It is weighted based on registration volume and adjusted for seasonality, vehicle age, mileage, and condition. The Index offers an accurate, representative, and unbiased view of the strength of today’s used vehicle market values.

To obtain a copy of the latest Black Book Wholesale Value Index, please click here.