Demand for fuel-efficient used cars grows amid high gas prices

DETROIT — Used vehicle prices are forecast to fall more than previously expected this year, as high gas prices and broader inflationary costs hit Americans’ pocketbooks.

Cox Automotive on Tuesday lowered its forecast for the company’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index from an increase of 2% to an uptick of 0.2%.

The lower forecast follows a 0.6% decline for the index in September, which marked the first time since early last year when the monthly index hasn’t been higher than a year earlier.

The historical average for the Manheim index is about a 2.3% year-over-year gain, but last year it was only up 0.4% after a historical run-up in prices during the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the decade.  

Non-adjusted wholesale used-vehicle prices fell 1.2% year over year in September and 1.3% from August as depreciation accelerated in the third quarter.

“The first half of the year actually showed more appreciation than usual, even in the face of higher fuel prices. But with the conflict in the Middle East ongoing, diesel prices at record highs, and interest rates climbing rapidly, increasingly worrying both businesses and consumers, wholesale prices have felt the sting,” Cox Automotive’s chief economist, Jeremy Robb, said in a release.

The index is a closely monitored gauge for used vehicle prices that tracks the pricing of used vehicles sold at Manheim U.S. wholesale auctions. Retail prices for consumers traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices.

Cox noted electric vehicle sales and off-lease volume continued to grow, reshaping used-vehicle market dynamics as EVs and smaller, fuel-efficient vehicle values increased during the quarter. That compares with poor performances of large trucks and SUVs, the company said.

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