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Blowing Off the Lot – the Hot Sellers

Since we have identified the vehicles that have the longest days supply, we have been asked to show which vehicles have the shortest days supply. Which vehicles are so hot they just blow off the dealer’s lot? As with the slower moving vehicles where we arbitrarily cut off the days supply at 150 days, here we are using 50 days as the cut off point. The details are shown “below the fold”


18 days: Honda Fit – Economy Compact Car… The all new Fit has proven to be very popular. Small, B-Segment car with some sporting aspirations. While premium priced above competition, Honda has cone a good job positioning the Fit and managing its inventories.
18 days: Nissan Versa – Economy Compact Car… The largest of the new B-Segment entries and the latest to the market, the days supply data may reflect the lack of cars at Nissan dealerships. Versa is very spacious for its footprint and comes across more as a B/C Segment car than simply a small B-Segment (like Fit). Here, Nissan is selling size for the dollar and buyers appear to be accepting it.
18 days: Honda CR-V – Mainstream Mid-Size Crossover SUV… The all new Honda CR-V is a tour de force in Crossover SUV design. Actually, the new CR-V (like its predecessor) has become a Mid-Size SUV and would be fully competitive if it had a V6 engine. But having only a 4-cylinder does not seem to be hurting CR-V sales. The new style, package and interior execution go a long way in selling the CR-V.
20 days: BMW Trucks… Data for individual BMW trucks are not available, but together X3 and X5 have only a 20 days supply. BMW Trucks are moving briskly and with the X5 replaced this fall, they may have a problem supplying enough to meet demand.
21 days: Lexus Cars… Data for individual Lexus cars are not available, but together Lexus only has a 21 days supply of cars. As the top selling luxury brand in the USA, Lexus has learned how to manage its inventory keeping highly desirable products in the pipeline that don’t sit on dealers’ lots.
22 days: BMW Cars… Data for individual BMW cars are not available, but BMW’s performance matches that of Lexus. In AutoPacific Future Brand Consideration research, BMW and Lexus are essentlially tied for being the most strongly considered luxury brands.
23 days: Pontiac Grand Prix – Premium Mid-Size Car… In a surprise showing, Grand Prix may be tough to find on dealer lots. The Grand Prix is the sportiest and sexiest of the mid-size General Motors sedans and it looks like the market appreciates that.
27 days: Honda Civic – Mainstream Compact Car… Arguably the most distinctive of the new small cars, the Civic has become a hot seller. Don’t expect a discount.
27 days: Lexus Trucks… Did you know that Lexus trucks outsell Lexus cars? Yep. And that the RX350 is the top selling Lexus? Lexus trucks are hot.
33 days: Saturn Sky… Great styling, premium positioning above the similar Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky is a very desirable package. We guess it has pulled sales from the Mazda MX-5 that has a very high days supply… until the market reacts to the MX-5’s power retractable hartop. The clunky roof design on the Sky may become its Achilles heel over time.
33 days: Acura RSX – Sporty Car… We won’t talk about RSX because it has been cancelled and what we are seeing is low inventory levels based on build-out volumes. So if you want one of the last Acura sporty coupes, you’d better jump now.
33 days: Mercedes Trucks… The all new Mercedes truck line-up appears to be doing pretty well. They are having trouble with the R-Class “Grand Sports Tourer” and have been adjusting its price and leasing programs. The ML and GL SUVs however seem to be selling briskly.
34 days: Toyota/Scion Cars… Data are not available for individual Toyota and Scion cars, but overall their days supply is 34 days. The new Avalon, Camry and Yaris are selling well, Corolla is getting creaky especially with all the new iron being introduced in the Compact Car arena.
39 days: Ford Freestar – Minivan… Well, we only have a little while to pummel the Freestar before it fades away the way the Mercury Monterey did. Ford lost interest in the Minivan market years ago and attempts to keep the Freestar competitive have been half-hearted. Low days supply means they are selling down their inventory.

40 days: Acura MDX – Luxury Crossover SUV…
The all new MDX is just coming on line. Better than its predecessor, the 2007 MDX is more distinctive as well. What we likely are seeing in the days supply data is the sell-down of the 1st generation MDX and the new model beginning to hit the dealerships.
41 days: Ford Expedition – Large SUV… Major change for the 2007 model year, the Expedition looks more distinctive than its predecessor. Its new front end appearance with the new Ford three bar grille sets the 2007 Expedition away from previous models. Ford also has cut back production of the Expedition to get inventories more in line with demand. If the new model becomes even more popular, watch for them to ratchet up production even more.

41 days: Nissan Sentra – Mainstream Compact Car…
New car replacing old car. Here we are seeing the build-out of the old car as the new Sentra waits in the wings to begin sale.
43 days: Acura TL – Aspirational Luxury Car… Very popular middle-of-the-line Acura is selling very well. Nicely styled, well equipped, competitively priced, the Acura TL is the core of the Acura lineup.
44 days: Volvo XC90 – Luxury Crossover SUV… The story on the XC90 is that Volvo had an aggressive fire-sale leasing program during the end of the summer prior to the minor change 2007 model XC90s coming on line in October. Wow! You could get an XC90 on a two year lease for $329 and month and a V8 for $389 per month. The deal blew out inventory and now XC90 inventories will be rebuilt.
47 days: Toyota Trucks… Data are not available for individual Toyota trucks. Toyota is selling down Tundra full-size pickups to clear the lots for the all new 2008 Tundra coming early in 2007. Tacoma, apparently, isn’t doing as well as Toyota had hoped. New RAV4 with V6 doing very well thank you.
49 days: Dodge Caliber – Image Compact Car… Caliber’s interesting styling and aggressive pricing have made Caliber one of the surprises of the year so far. In fact, Caliber is selling at double the rate AutoPacific initially estimated. Good for them.
49 days: Chevrolet Impala – Premium Mid-Size Car… A combo of heavy fleet and respectable retail sales, the 2006 Impala saved the big Chevy from the joke bin. A smartly styled reskin moved Impala styling from dorky to competitive. If you get a chance, drive the V8-powered Impala SS. It is a torque-steering demon but great to drive and the engine sound is superb.
50 days: Mazda3 – Mainstream Compact Car… Very highly regarded compact car has put Mazda’s small car on the enthusiast map. Nice car, priced right, a little small even for its class, but a blast to drive.

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