May 2022 WHOLESALE MARKET UPDATE

The used vehicle market remains exceptionally strong, wholesale prices grew slightly for the second consecutive month, which helped elevate the Valuation Services Used Vehicle Price Index by 4.2-points to 214.1. April’s increase helped keep the index and used prices near December 2021’s all-time high of 223.6. As a result, used prices ended the period 42% higher than they were through the first four months of 2021.

Wholesale prices at the industry level grew by 1.3% in April, which was the strongest performance for the period in the past 20+ years. Generally, wholesale prices are flat to down slightly in the April period. For example, in the five years leading to 2020, wholesale prices in April fell by an average of 0.4%. On the retail side, used prices at franchised dealers grew in April to reach an all-time high of nearly $31,300 per unit. Additionally, on the retail side, the used-to-new ratio remains elevated at 114.8%, as dealers continue to rely on used units to help meet consumer demand. Used days to turn increased by one day to a still lean 40 days, as used vehicles continue to sell very quickly.