August 6, 2013

The used car industry has been good for dealers that could find inventory but not necessarily for buyers. In recent years, a supply shortage of used vehicles kept retail prices high. Leasing tumbled, daily rental car companies and fleet buyers cut back in the number of units purchased, and therefore used-vehicle prices shot upwards. Slowly prices are beginning to fall, albeit only slightly.

For the remainder of the year, used prices will most likely stabilize. As often happens in late winter and early spring, dealers will look for stock for the spring selling season and with those vehicles prices will increase.

Experian Automotive according to its State of the Automotive Finance Market report for Q1 showed leasing accounting for a record 27.5% of all new vehicles financed, up from 24.4% in Q1 2012. Credit unions and lenders without leasing programs will eventually realize the impact of leasing programs to some degree.