July Used-Vehicle Market Overview for U.S. Auto Dealers

July is almost done, and the used car market has felt every day of it. Are we experiencing summertime blues?

• Inventory decreased while day supply increased
• Avg list price dipped
• And, of course, the CDK Global outage brought sales down across the industry.

Here are some details to move forward on:

• Used-Vehicle Inventory:
  • Total Units: 2.08M units at the start of July, down from 2.25M units at the start of June.
  • Comparison to Previous Year: Inventory levels are unchanged from a year ago.
• Days' Supply:
  • Current Days' Supply: 53 days, an increase of seven days from the beginning of June.
  • Year-over-Year Comparison: Up four days compared to last year.
• Average Listing Price:
  • Current Average Price: $25,251, down from $25,642 at the start of June.
  • Year-over-Year Comparison: Decreased by 7%, reaching levels last seen in the summer of 2021.

What does it mean for us?

1. Used-Vehicle Market Metrics:
   • Sales Decline: Used vehicle sales were down 14% month over month and over 6% year over year.
   • Average Mileage: 70,202 miles on average for used vehicles.
2. Affordability and Supply:
   • Challenges: Affordability remains an issue with constrained supply at lower price points.
   • Lower Price Points: Used cars below $15K have only 39 days' supply, 35% less than the industry average.
3. Top Sellers:
   • The top five sellers in July were Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
   • Those brands accounted for 49% of all used vehicles sold.
   • The average price for these top sellers was $23,833 (about 6% below the overall average listing price).