Posted on 2/26/2021
Last summer we wrote about used car prices bucking historical trends and holding steady, and even increasing, during the traditional summer pricing downturn. Now, with an entire year’s worth of data available, an even larger Covid-driven trend is being revealed regarding car prices for both the used and new markets. First, manufacturers began to stop making as many lower profit smaller cars, focusing instead on higher margin trucks and SUVs. This pushed shoppers in that segment to the used market, as their options narrowed, increasing demand. Then Covid hit, forcing factory shutdowns worldwide, limiting availability of new product (3.3 million fewer units in the US alone manufactured in 2020), reducing new car sales and trade-ins and creating further upward pressure on both new and used vehicle prices. Ad ... read more