Prices decline for large used SUVs.

Automotive News, July, 2004 by Sawyers, Arlena

Byline: Arlena Sawyers

Rising gasoline prices and generous sales incentives on new vehicles are driving down the wholesale price of large used SUVs.

That decline could signal trouble for profitable sales of new full-sized SUVs, one of the industry's most lucrative segments.

The average wholesale price of large used SUVs in June was $15,079, reports ADESA Inc., a vehicle auction company in Carmel, Ind. That figure is 4.6 percent below May's average price and 8.6 percent below the average price in June 2003.

Wholesale prices of large used SUVs tend to soften in summer, when demand is lower. But the drop this year is steeper than usual.

Last June, for example, the year-over-year decline was 1.3 percent, ADESA figures show....