Exponential Markets Used Vehicle Indices

# **Overview**

The Exponential Markets Used Vehicle Indices provide a weekly, benchmark-quality measure of wholesale price level changes in the U.S. used vehicle market. Designed from the ground up to meet the standards required for tradable financial benchmarks, these indices serve automotive industry professionals, insurance companies, investment managers, fleet operators, and market analysts who need a reliable, transparent signal on used vehicle wholesale values.

This listing includes two indices:

**Exponential Used Vehicle Index (Composite)** — Measures the wholesale price level of used, light-duty vehicles across the United States (Bloomberg ticker: AUTO).

**Exponential Electric Vehicle Index** — A companion index tailored specifically to the battery electric vehicle segment, capturing the unique price dynamics of the rapidly evolving EV wholesale market.

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# Methodology

Both indices are constructed using hedonic pricing models powered by gradient-boosted machine learning algorithms (LightGBM). The hedonic approach controls for vehicle attributes that influence price — including make, model, model year, mileage, drivetrain, fuel type, and segment — so that index movements reflect genuine shifts in market supply and demand rather than changes in the mix of vehicles being sold. A Fisher-style double-imputation method is used to calculate weekly index changes, which reduces noise and protects against omitted-variable bias.

The Composite Index is baselined to 100 as of the first week of 2020. The EV Index shares the same base date. Both indices are published on a non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) basis so that seasonal patterns remain visible to users.

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# **Data Foundation**

The indices are built on NAAA Services Corporation AuctionNet transactional data, which covers approximately 80% of all U.S. wholesale light-duty vehicle auction activity — over 500,000 transactions per month — sourced from Manheim, ADESA, and participating independent auctions. This is the most comprehensive wholesale auction transaction dataset available in the United States.

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# **Key Characteristics**

- Update frequency: Weekly (published Thursdays at 9:00 AM ET)
- Geography: United States
- Vehicle scope: Light-duty vehicles (Composite); Battery electric vehicles (EV Index)
- Base value: 100 (week of January 6, 2020)
- Historical depth: Index history back to 2000 (Composite); 2018 (EV Index)
- No prior-period restatements
- Non-seasonally adjusted

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# **Governance**

The indices are administered by Exponential Markets and overseen by an Index Governance Committee composed of subject matter experts in index design, automotive finance, and data science. The methodology is constructed around all 19 IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, ensuring transparency, data integrity, and robust conflict-of-interest controls. Full methodology documentation is available at https://www.exponentialmarkets.com/governance/documentation/.