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founder of CoPilot.

“While the current market remains one of the most challenging in history for consumers, our index shows that, in particular, 1- to 3-year-old and 4- to 7-year-old vehicles are starting the long road back to normal.

“Consumers are tired of paying new car prices for used cars, Ryan continued. “At the beginning of 2022, consumers were paying 98% of the original sticker price for 1- to 3-year-old cars; historically these vehicles sold for 71% of the original sticker price. Our Used Car Price Premium Index is the first metric to show where prices are versus normal times, not just last month or last year. And our free Price Pulse tool for consumers uses that data to help car shoppers decide what and when to buy.”

One part of the index is likely to lag behind the rest of the market in the return to normal: older used car models. Inflated prices of more recent used car models continue to push more consumers into the market for older vehicles, resulting in record high prices for 8- to 13-yearold cars.

Given the heightened demand for vehicles at these price points, the price premium for older used cars have reached their all-time high, at $6,027, and prices for these vehicles are not expected to return to normal levels as quickly as newer models.

“CoPilot’s Used Car Price Premium Index is the only index in the market that provides consumers with a retail-based metric of where they would expect prices to be in a normal economy, rather than a month-over-month comparison,” Ryan added. “While there are some promising signs that we may soon see a softening in the used car market, consumers are still paying record-high price premiums for many of the most popular brands and segments. As CoPilot reports this data on a monthly basis, we aim to serve as a resource for consumers navigating an unprecedented set of conditions in the car market.”

Source: CoPilot

AUTOBODY

A new poll shows small businesses fear they will have to shut down within six months if inflation continues.

The Alignable Small Business Inflation poll asked 5,268 businesses in May if they were concerned about inflation and over half said they fear they won’t be able to stay open over six months.

Illinois was in line with the national average, with 49% of small business owners concerned over inflation-driven shutdowns.

Many business owners said this is a more difficult time than the pandemic, researcher Chuck Casto said.

“In one of our polls we asked point blank, what has been more damaging for your business, inflation or COVID, and over 60% said inflation,” Casto said.

Rastaurants are the most concerned sector of the economy. Of those asked, 72% said they were concerned about shutting down because of inflation this year. That was followed by beauty salons (65%) and gyms (63%).

According to the poll, 49% of small business owners said their costs have increased by more than 25%, but only 16% are able to pass those expenses onto customers.

The states with the most-worried small business owners included Maryland, Connecticut and Tennessee.

One business owner said fuel costs would be the death of his business. In Illinois, gasoline is averaging $5.40 a gallon, putting a strain on many businesses.

Relief doesn’t appear to be coming anytime soon. Laffer Tengler Investments’ Arthur Laffer Jr. told Fox News inflation will get “higher” and be here a while.

“We think that inflation is going to be here higher and longer than we would have thought. But, this is pretty ugly. We have CPI coming out Friday, so we’ll see what it is. But this is definitely putting pressure on the economy. I think these prices are here for a while,” he said.

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