Movers and Losers April 2009

This month’s list of the fastest-selling cars is almost entirely made up of all-new or redesigned models. Nine out of the top 10 and 14 of the top 20 were all-new for the 2009 or 2010 model year. Ford will be the happiest, as its new Fusion and Fusion Hybrid took the top two spots.

On the negative side, we’re again surprised to see the redesigned — and well-liked around the Cars.com office — Infiniti FX50 among the slowest sellers, at 185 days. Its less-expensive counterpart, the FX35, takes 105 days to sell. The rest of the bottom 10 is more understandable, made up of lackluster or outdated models.   

For 2008, 2009 and 2010 models, the average number of days to sell for new cars was 158. For 2009 and 2010 vehicles, the number drops to 72 days. That average is longer than last month’s 68 days and February’s 63 days.

The Movers and Losers list reports the average number of days it takes to sell a model from the day it arrives on the lot until the final paperwork is signed by a buyer. This is not a days of inventory list like you may find on other sites. We’re now focusing on only the 2009 and 2010 model years.

The full lists are below.

Comments

Here we go again. The Fusion is a hot mover. The only oddity is the Camry. They must have limited supplies/production. The others are just hot right now. Will likely see the Cube on next months list.

It's May 7, 2009 and all but one on the hot list are 2010 model years. I wish we could go back to when 2010 model years really meant 2010 model years. It's not going to happen but I can still wish!

Mitsubishi should stop making their Galant, crappiest crap ever, not reliable, bad resale value, bad gas milaege, and aging design which is boring...

Whats shocking about the FX50? Its expensive, small and gets terrible mileage. Its very impractical and serves a niche that is so small it might as well not exist. I don't even know why Infiniti redesigned such a slow selling model.

what was the first 2010 MY 2 hit the streets?

I saw a Soul at a dealership in February. Somebody posted a review of the new Mazda3 on this site a number of weeks ago.

The first 2010s I recall seeing were the Mazda3 and the Volvo XC60, in the first week of March.

Kia Souls that were at dealerships before April were Korean-spec demo models that couldn't be sold or even driven.

I think it's ridiculous that model years don't coincide with the year in which they are introduced to retail sales. By the time 2010 rolls around, many models will already be a year old with 20,000+ miles on them.

Insight, really? I am yet to see one around here.

these are not that interesting. Why?

most of the 'movers' are brand new cars. Although part of this reflects popularity it also picks up inventory management as the car is rolled out. Most of the new cars just hit the dealership (Mazda3, Insight, Fusion, Soul, Genesis). Why not exclude cars that are in their first 1-3 months until things stabilize?

I do find movers and losers stats fascinating in general, but presentating them in this ways distorts what really moves.

The FX50 is overpriced.

dosent surprise me the camry is on here and the accord is not, if iam not mistaken the new accord has been out less then 2 years while the refreshed camry debuted in early 2006?

Other people are right that inventory control can really affect these numbers. If combined with how many are actually sold, would tell us more.

I just bought a 2009 Dodge Caliber SXT.
It's a great car. I don't why people are brainwashed on the Japanese cars.

I just bought a 2009 Dodge Caliber SXT.
It's a great car. I don't know why people are brainwashed on the Japanese cars.

Guys,
We've been doing this for a long while now. When we did actual sales it didn't change the impact of the list whatsoever. We have a sales target each model has to meet to make the list at all. That's why you don't see Porsche 911s, Vipers etc.

The comment that it shows what's hot right now...is kind of the point.

There's lots of anecdotal evidence that a new model moves quickly, we're backing it up here with this list and which new models are moving faster than others.

Tor,
The point is, if those hot new cars are indeed moving that fast we've backed that up so a consumer won't feel like they're being lied to by a salesman saying they're moving fast.

Get it?

And then when someone thinks about buying a new Infiniti FX they know, these things are sitting around, maybe I can get a better deal. That's definitely not a car that I thought would sell that slowly. And recently I've seen many on the road with new tags. I'm guessing there are some deals.

"We have a sales target each model has to meet to make the list at all. "

If you aren't going to show all the numbers YOU use to make up the list, then don't complain when the people looking at the list point point out the faults based on the premise that it is showing numbers based solely on the average time sitting on the lot.

Outline the parameters you use so we understand how these vehicles are getting on the list.

But even if a car meets your sales numbers it still points to manufacturer inventory management on certain models.

You can't tell me the XC60 is available in the same quantities as the Camry.

Show all the numbers you use to create the list or continue to have everyone yelling BS about the numbers.

How do you guys come up with this list? I mean, what data do you use? Do you just take days inventory, sales, and production numbers?

Ralphie,
We did ALL The numbers before and more people complained that it didn't help. So we're doing it this way. I can repost the rules though yes. I usually do.

The data is compiled by Cars.com and Cars.com partners.

The data has nothing to do with inventory no. It is simply an accounting of how many days on average each model took to sell from the day it came into the dealership until the day it sold.

Also people have complained before about how, for example a Honda or BMW keeps inventory tight and that could sway the list. That fact doesn't matter for the car shopper though. They will still run into a limited supply when they walk onto the lot. That's part of what we're trying to illustrate here.

It took me a few months of seeing this report and some back and forth with Dave T. to realize that this is not them trying to analyze trends or the market but is merely a tool for consumers so treat it as such and don't overthink what he's presenting!

Thanks H!

This has everything to do with inventory control.

Here's the math.

Assumptions: A month is 28 days long.
To make the list you must sell 28 cars in a month.
If a car arrives on the lot and is sold that day the car is said to have been on the lot for 1 day.

Dealer A sells Model A from manufacturer A.
Dealer A has a small lot.
Manufacturer A believes in just in time supply and sends 7 cars to dealer A once a week.
Dealer A sells one car a day.

So the average days on the lot is
(Days each car on the lot)/# of cars sold
= (1+2+3....+7)/7
= 28/7 =
= 4 Days on the lot

If this is repeated for three more weeks we get the same 4 days on the lot per car at the end of 28 day with 28 cars sold.

Dealer B sells Model B from Manufacturer B.
Dealer B has a slightly larger lot and manufacturer B wants to cut down on shipping costs and ships him 14 cars every 2 weeks.
Dealer B sells one car a day.

So the average days on the lot is
(Days each car on the lot)/# of cars sold
= (1+2+3....+14)/7
= 105/7 =
= 7.5 days on the lot

Repeating this again gives us 28 cars sold with an average 7.5 days on the lot.

Dealer C sells Model C from manufacturer C.
Dealer C has a huge lot and because manufacturer C is shipping from overseas, sends the dealer 28 cars each month.
Dealer C sells one car a day.

So the average days on the lot is
(Days each car on the lot)/# of cars sold
= (1+2+3....+28)/28
= 406/28 =
= 14.5 Days on the lot

So here we have three dealers all selling 28 cars in a one month period, yet the average days on the lot spans from 4 to 14.5 days.

This is inventory management plain and simple and is one of the major impacts on the average number of days it takes to sell a car.

So stop claiming this number is not impacted by inventory management.

Ralphie has way too much time on his hands.,

This is a simple list. It doesn't matter how many cars are on the lot. If car "a" took 4 days to sell from the time it arrived, it doesn't matter if there are 7 other cars on the lot, or 700- it still took 4 days!!

Broq

Ralphie,
first, i think you are a fool for attacking Dave T.

second, you forgot one crucial part of the formula: adding the three numbers together and then taking the averages.

4+7.5+14.5=26/3= 8.67 days on the lot.

this way, it takes into account all of the sizes of lots and moves for a manufacturer average.

Besides, taking an average of how long a vehicle takes to move from dealer to consumer takes into account all of the vehicles that are sold right away and those that sit for a while before being purchased.

Ralphie,
I didn't say inventory control didn't matter to the numbers on the list, I said it didn't matter as an end result to the consumer in regards to this list. Meaning, the tougher the inventory control the higher up the M&L list a model would be, illustrating your point for some cars for sure.

JM,

Read the post again. Each lot represents a DIFFERENT MODEL from a DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS.

Proving the point that inventory control does impact the numbers as presented.

They may know cars here, but they don't understand retail. Been in the business 10 years, specializing in inventory control. My day is spent analyzing sales, days in stock, replenishment requirements and shipping costs to determine the most cost effective way to order product.

Thanks for playing,

I get what Dave purpose for the list is. Its basically saying this the supply. Whatever the demand, isn't measured here. The supply is the supply.

Ralphie,
So you're saying you don't believe the top ten cars and the bottom ten cars move off lots quickly or slowly? Not sure what you're arguing about at this stage. Inventory lists are kept by other people and published elsewhere.

Your statement from previous posting above:
"The data has nothing to do with inventory no. It is simply an accounting of how many days on average each model took to sell from the day it came into the dealership until the day it sold."

I proved that you can have three different models of car moving off the lot in the same numbers over a period of time but with very different days on the lot numbers.

Based on my example is Model A selling faster than Model B and Model C? Using your logic days on the lot indicates who is selling faster.

But each model is selling at a rate of one car each day, each month 28 of each model are sold, yet the days on the lot varies from 4 days to 14.5 days. The way in which each models inventory is managed is making it look like one model sells better than the other which is untrue.

Because you base the number on when the car is received and when it sells, the way in which the cars are received (quantity and frequency) is pertinent. You can't discount it from the equation as I have proven.

Ralphie,
It may be pertinent but I don't think it again impacts the overall list. Over the past year the lists have held up to extreme scrutiny and the reality of the market. I think your examples may be correct, but I think because, again, everything is an average (incl your A,B and C dealer sizes), there's no real impact on the lists themselves.

I don't know how else to explain this.

The inventory can arrive at different times through the month, in different quantities.

Dealer size, and manufacturer location was used in the example to explain why there would be a difference in the number and frequency of deliveries.

To make your numbers work you are making the assumption that all inventory is sitting on the lot on the first of the month and that no deliveries of product occur throughout the month.

In my example which you would rate the vehicles as:

Model A - 4 days
Model B - 7.5 days
Model C - 14.5 days

Indicating Model A was moving faster than the other two models. This would give a consumer the idea that they should jump on buying Model A right away because they are selling light hotcakes, and that they may be able to deal on Model C because it is languishing on the lot.

In fact both vehicles are selling at a rate of 1/day.