Top Ten Depreciating Three-Year-Old Vehicles

NADA just released a list of the top ten depreciating three-year-old vehicles. Here’s the list:

1. Jaguar XJ8 – 25%
2. Mercedes-Benz CL-Class – 22%
3. Kia Rio – 22%
4. Audi A8 – 21%
5. Lexus LS – 21%
6. Suzuki Verona – 21%
7. Volvo C70 – 20%
8. Hyundai Accent – 20%
9. Audi A4 – 20%
10. Audi A6 – 20%

Hmm, seems that Jaguar is usually on the top of these lists. I’m surprised that Land Rover didn’t make the cut. But that is a lot of Audis. The Kia is pretty cheap to begin with, so even a 22% drop isn’t much money… Full press release after the jump.

NADA Market Report: Premium Luxury Vehicles Show Highest Annual Depreciation Rate

Replacement Levels and Customer Preference for Latest Models Drive
Depreciation

MCLEAN, Va., March 3 /PRNewswire/ — NADA Used Car Guide (NADA), the
industry standard in used-vehicle valuation and information, reports the
premium luxury vehicle segment experienced the highest annual depreciation
rate among three-year-old models in 2007, due in large part to consumer
preference for the latest new models and high replacement levels.

NADA Official Used Car Guide data, developed by NADA’s editorial team
and released today, shows premium luxury coupes and sedans held four of the
top-10 spots for vehicle depreciation for the year, with a replacement rate
of 43 percent on average.

"Luxury vehicle owners consistently demonstrate a strong preference for
owning the latest new products in this segment," said Terrence W. Wynne,
director of editorial and data services for NADA Used Car Guide. "The
changing customer preferences and high manufacturer replacement rate
effectively accelerates depreciation of these vehicles, deflating the
resale performance of previous models and those competitive models late in
their life cycle," he added.

According to the NADA report, the top-10 depreciating three-year old
vehicle models in calendar year 2007 were:

    Make                     Model              Annual Depreciation
    Jaguar                   XJ8                     25%
    Mercedes-Benz         CL-Class                   22%
    Kia                      Rio                     22%
    Audi                     A8                      21%
    Lexus                    LS                      21%
    Suzuki                 Verona                    21%
    Volvo                   C70                      20%
    Hyundai                Accent                    20%
    Audi                     A4                      20%
    Audi                     A6                      20%

Wynne noted that the replacement rate directly impacts incentive
spending in the luxury segment and compounds the pressure already present
on the used-car market based on consumer change in design preference. He
said that unreplaced models tend to have the heaviest incentives.

About NADA Used Car Guide

Over a 75-year history, NADA Used Car Guide has earned its reputation
as the leading provider of market-reflective vehicle valuation products,
services and information to businesses throughout the U.S. and worldwide.
NADA’s editorial team collects and analyzes over half-a-million combined
wholesale and retail automotive-related transaction prices per month. Its
guidebooks, Web-based products, analysis and data solutions offer
automotive, financial, insurance and government professionals the timely
information and reliable solutions they need to make better business
decisions. For more information, visit http://www.nada.com/b2b.