Movers and Losers: February 2011

After a car has been on sale for a month or two, its inventories build and it generally takes longer to sell. That happened to last month’s No. 1, the redesigned Dodge Durango. That new model still made February’s list of Movers, but the No. 1 in February, the BMW X3, moved up from the No. 2 spot last month.

Like the Durango, the X3 was redesigned from the ground up. Unlike the Durango, BMW is aggressively trying to get potential owners to custom order their X3s using a system we detailed before. This new tactic could keep the X3 high atop this list in the future.

One surprise drop-off was the new Kia Optima. It might not have made it into the top list, but at 24 days to sell from the time it arrives at dealers until it goes home with an owner, it far outpaced the average of 47 days in February.

Our full lists, including our picks for potential good buys and our methodology, are below.

Movers and Losers: January 2011

With the new year, it seems there are a lot of new models hitting the streets, and they’re selling rather quickly. Eleven of the top 21 (there were ties) fastest-selling cars last month were either significantly redesigned or brand-new models, and nearly all of those were recently launched.
 
That means it might be harder to find that cool new BMW X3 or Kia Optima that you saw advertised during the Super Bowl.

We’ve stripped 2010 models from the lists and are working with just 2011 and now 2012 model years. The average number of days it took to sell a new 2011 or 2012 was 40 days in January, up slightly from December’s 35 days. We expect that number to climb as the year progresses.

The poor performers in January aren’t really a surprise. Most were convertibles and high-performance cars that may sit on dealership lots longer when there are events like blizzards and arctic temperatures throughout much of the country.

Of course, that also means it's an excellent time to shop for these cars before the weather turns, especially if you have a garage.

Our list of somewhat-slow sellers that are worthy vehicles as well as our criteria for compiling these lists are below.

Movers and Losers: December 2010

Final sales numbers for December and all of 2010 won’t be released until tomorrow, but we got our Movers and Losers figures in, and there are a lot of surprises.

Since most 2010 new cars on lots are slow-moving leftovers with 2011 versions available, we’re going to focus strictly on 2011 model year vehicles. That brings the average number of days it takes for a car to arrive at a dealer until leaving in the hands of a new owner down to 35. If you included 2010 models, that figure would balloon to 92 days.

That doesn’t mean everything flew off lots in December. While new models, like the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Optima, moved swiftly, the also-new VW Eos and Infiniti M56 didn’t.

The Chevy Volt didn’t sell in high-enough volume to be added to our Movers list, but it was the fastest-selling model overall, at just three days. The Nissan Leaf wasn’t included in our data at all.
 
We also picked a few models that should offer a lot of value if they’re being discounted along the lines of the dust on their tires.

Movers and Losers: November 2010

November was a strong sales month as dealers start to turn around more and more 2011 models versus 2010. The 2010s are almost all extinct, and we’re seeing some trends emerge for the 2011s on the dawn of the new year.
 
Sixteen of the top 20 fastest sellers are SUVs or crossovers, and the Honda Odyssey brings the total non-car group up to 17. The three actual cars on the list are luxury models. The fastest-selling non-luxury car was the Chevy Cruze selling in 16 days, which wasn’t fast enough it seems.

However brisk some sales of new models may be, the lingering 2010s have slowed the average time it takes to sell a new car to 83 days on average for 2010 and 2011 models. That’s up from 69 days in October and is the slowest of the year. In fact, finding 2010 models for the Losers list was quite hard, as most had to compete with new 2011s on lots or had been taken out to automotive pasture, like the Jeep Commander. Both are factors that we exclude from the Losers group.
 
Our Cars.com Picks all come from the luxury side, with good deals on relatively new designs, and a couple of convertibles as winter sets in.

Movers and Losers: October 2010

SUVs and crossovers continued to move off dealer lots at a fast clip in October. Fifteen of our 22 Movers this month fell into this category. However, no pickup trucks made the Movers’ list this month.  The slowest-selling Ford F-150 — the 2010 regular cab configuration — sold in 56 days, which is well above the 69-day average for new 2010 and 2011 models.

While October was a positive month for automakers, the average time it took to sell a new 2010 or 2011 model climbed from 61 days last month to October’s 69-day average.

Because of the model-year turnover, our Losers list couldn’t just be comprised of vehicles without a 2011 version on lots. To compensate, we also included vehicles that are being discontinued entirely and some with 2011 models that aren’t widely available yet.

That means some of our Cars.com picks for good deals have been on lots longer than our Losers. We’re also including a count of how many Losers and Picks are in the Cars.com national new-vehicle inventory as of this morning. Click the numbered link and you can search the listings. All of our 2010 picks this month make up a substantial portion of how many new vehicles — 2010 and 2011s — are on lots.

Check out the lists below.

Movers and Losers: September 2010

Vehicles from the 2011 model year of almost every make have hit most dealerships and that has directly impacted this month's results for the fastest- and slowest-selling new car models.
 
The greatest surprise is on the Movers' list and supports our recent focus on the rise of the SUV. Fifteen of the 20 fastest sellers were SUVs or crossovers. Another two were trucks.
 
As that sinks in, I know someone will ask where last month's No. 1 Mover, the Honda CR-Z, went. While it wasn't in the top 20, it did maintain a solid 17 days to sell as inventories filled up.
 
The average time it took to sell a new car this month rose to 61 days, up from 57 days in August. However, that's better than the 80 days it took in September 2009.

This month, our picks for good buys are really interesting.

Movers and Losers: August 2010

August car sales dipped a bit against last year’s Cash for Clunkers and things slowed down on the Movers and Losers list, too. The average number of days it took to sell a new car was 57.8, up from 56 in July. That’s far better than the number of 82 days it took in August 2009.

In an odd bit of hybrid irony, Honda’s new CR-Z hybrid topped the Movers list, while the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid took 95 days to sell, making it one of our picks for consumers looking for deals on slow-selling models.

On the Losers list, the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback retained the top spot and five other cars also remain from July's Losers list. The lists and our methodology are listed below.

Movers and Losers: July 2010

There’s no question what the most important vehicle on this month’s Movers list is: the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Chrysler has a lot riding on its redesigned Grand Cherokee, and it seems to be selling quickly, with just nine days on lots. This brisk pace is what we’ve seen from other highly anticipated new models. Even if it is the “norm,” it’s still a positive sign that Chrysler is on the same track as automakers that haven’t been through the rough years Chrysler has encountered.

The Ford Fiesta also sold quickly, but more so in hatchback configurations. The new Buick Regal just made the list, selling in just over two weeks.

The average number of days it took to sell a new 2010 or 2011 ticked up one day from 55 in June to 56 in July. The average for May was 50 days.

On the Loser list, shoppers may be interested in trying to find a deal on the slow-selling Cadillac CTS SportWagon or the soon-to-be-deceased Mercury Milan Hybrid. We also list five of our picks. These cars take longer than the average to sell, but they would be solid buys.

The full lists and our criteria are below.

Movers and Losers: June 2010

Summer is here and folks are snapping up convertibles. Both the affordable 2011 Ford Mustang droptop and the loftier Mercedes-Benz E350 Cabriolet are among June’s fastest sellers. If you’re looking for a good deal on a convertible, the 2010 Mazda MX-5 Miata might be worth checking out as it makes our Picks’ list at 79 days. The average number of days it took to sell a new 2010 or 2011 in June was 55 days, up significantly from May’s 50 days.

As the 2011 model year spreads to more manufacturers, 2011 models makeup most of the list. However, many of the Movers aren’t just there because of a scarcity of supply. The Jaguar XJ and BMW 5 Series have been completely redesigned, while two trim levels are listed below, other versions also sold quickly — just not in a high enough volume to meet our criteria.

You can check out the full lists and our criteria below.

Movers and Losers: May 2010

More 2011 model years arrived on lots last month, and, not surprisingly, they sold pretty quickly. But we saw some trends developing in May.

Twelve of the top 20 Movers were SUVs, crossovers or trucks, and for every small, thrifty crossover on the list, there’s a heavy-duty pickup truck.

A number of luxury marquees fill the Losers list, and it looks like if you’re shopping for a 2010 luxury car, this may be a good time to start looking. 

Again this month we’re picking a few models that are taking well beyond May’s average of 50 days to sell from the day they arrive on the lot that are also highly regarded by our editorial staff.  These are cars that dealers may be more apt to deal on for no other reason than not being popular with the masses.

The full lists, along with our methodology, are below.