LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia – Black Book, a division of Hearst that provides used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions, today released its Used Vehicle Retention Index for October 2021. The Index increased to 180.2 points, a 10.8 point (or 6.4%) increase from September (169.5). The Index currently stands 38.8% above where it was this same time last year. 

 “With no short-term resolutions to new inventory problems, dealers are continuing to spend money on used inventory, pushing wholesale prices up to new records across all segments in October,” said Alex Yurchenko, Chief Data Science Officer at Black Book. “As in September, cars of all sizes and compact crossovers led the rally. Average price of a used vehicle is 39% above 2020 levels and 56% above the pre-COVID 2019 level. Although we don’t expect this level of prices to be sustainable for the long-term, we expect the used car market to remain strong for several years due to limited new inventory and reduced availability of used supply.”  

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 index data, click here.