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Used car prices fall for first time this year as gas prices spike
Customers browse in a used car lot in Glendale, California, Feb. 15, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
DETROIT — Used car prices fell last month for the first time since October as gas prices rose amid the war in Iran.
Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index — which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale auctions — decreased 1.6% last month compared with March and were up 1.8% compared with the same month a year earlier.
Cox said affordability remains a key concern for buyers, which is driving increased demand for older vehicles and all-electric vehicles at Manheim auctions.
Gas prices at the end of April were up $1.12 per gallon compared with a year earlier to a national average of $4.30 a gallon, according to AAA. They’ve continued to rise since, with the national average hitting $4.56 as of Thursday.
“The conflict in the Middle East has now been ongoing for two months, and while energy prices backed off a bit in mid-April, they have reaccelerated to the upside: the price of gas just hit a high for the year and is up 47% since the end of February,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jeremy Robb said in a release. “Those higher prices are soaking up a lot of the extra money in consumers’ pockets, and currently there’s no end in sight.”
Retail prices for consumers traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices, which Cox forecasts to rise at a historically stable rate of about 2% this year. The average listed price of a used vehicle was $25,390 as of March, according to Cox. That was up roughly $100 from February.
The average listing price for a used EV remains more than $9,200 higher than the overall market, but new and used vehicle retailers have said the rapid rise in gas prices has led to higher EV sales following a slowdown after the end of federal incentives last year by the Trump administration.
Manheim’s electric vehicle index was up 7.2% year over year and up 1.4% from March.
April’s lower pricing follows a strong spring selling season, fueled by many consumers spending higher tax refunds to purchase or finance used vehicles, Cox said.
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BPCL, HPCL, IOCL shares rally up to 4% as oil prices hit two-month low. What are experts saying?
HPCL shares gained 3.5% to their day’s high of Rs 379 on the BSE, while IOCL shares rallied 3% to Rs 138 per share. BPCL soared the most, up 4.5% to Rs 295.
US President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran could be reached as early as this weekend. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had called off the strikes after discussions with Iran were elevated to the highest levels of the Iranian leadership and received approval. He said key points of a proposed agreement had been approved “in both concept and great detail” by parties including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt, among others.
Brent crude futures fell $1.21, or 1.3%, to $89.17 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.23, or 1.4%, to $86.48 a barrel. Brent crude fell nearly 2% at the open to as low as $88.79 per barrel after settling at a two-month low in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded near $86 a barrel.
Downstream or oil marketing stocks usually come under pressure when oil prices rise as their input costs increase sharply while their ability to pass these costs on remains limited. These companies buy crude at higher prices, refine it and sell the end products, but pricing is often regulated, restricting full cost pass-through to consumers. As a result, margins get squeezed when product prices do not rise in line with crude.
What are experts saying?
Even if a deal is reached, analysts believe it could take several months for oil shipments through the strait to fully normalise and for damaged energy infrastructure to be repaired.
Last month, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned that disruptions in Hormuz could delay stability in global oil markets until 2027, with nearly 100 million barrels of oil supply per week potentially impacted. Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil producer.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley said the oil market was in “a race against time,” cautioning that the factors preventing crude prices from rising further may weaken if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut through June.The brokerage added that higher US crude exports and softer demand from China have so far helped prevent a deeper supply shock. However, it warned that an extended closure of Hormuz could tighten global supplies again if disruptions continue beyond what the US and China can comfortably absorb.
Iran has effectively enforced a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz since early March, requiring ships to obtain clearance before passing through the route or risk being targeted. The restrictions were imposed after US and Israeli strikes reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with several senior leaders.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints, with roughly 20% of global oil supply moving through the passage before the conflict. Iran’s blockade has sharply reduced crude exports from the Middle East, leading to what has been described as one of the largest supply disruptions in history.
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