- Lexus was the fastest-selling luxury car in May 2024, with the slowest being Maserati.
- Toyota was the quickest-selling mass-market car in May 2024, followed by Honda and Subaru.
- While new car inventories climb higher, average transaction prices are staying stable.
As new car inventories continue to rise across the US, it should be a buyers’ market. However, data suggests that prices remain elevated, with average transaction prices staying around the $49,000 mark that it has been at for the past eight months.
Dealers are reportedly looking to hold on to inventory before the summer to propel sales throughout the next few months. New car supply is now at 67 days, up 37 percent from last year’s 49 days. The data comes from Cars Commerce data analysts who studied listings and consumer search behavior on the company’s platforms, Cars.com, Dealer Inspire, and AccuTrade.
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The days’ live metric is one of many used by analysts at Cars Commerce to gauge the health of the automotive market. It measures the number of vehicles listed online. More days they stay online generally correlate with weaker demand for new cars.
However, for Lexus and Toyota dealers, the news is even better, as both brands top their respective charts when it comes to turnaround time on the lot. Lexus is the fastest-selling luxury new car, with the new GX, TX, and RZ contributing to an average days live time of 49 days.
At the other end of the luxury spectrum, Maserati fared worst, with cars staying on lots for a whole six months (184 days) until they found a home. Alfa Romeo and Jaguar didn’t fare much better, with the average days live being 165 and 142 days, respectively.
In the mass-market leagues Toyota managed to clinch the fastest-moving title for May ’24, with cars staying live on average for just 31 days. It was a Japanese top three, with Honda and Subaru close behind, while Kia and Hyundai rounded out the top five.
Brands waiting for buyers
While imports dominated the top five fastest-selling mass-market brands, domestic brands sadly took up the bottom five places — with four of them from Stellantis. Dodge had cars live for an average of 151 days in May 2024, while Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep didn’t fare much better. Buick was the fifth slowest-moving brand, with cars staying live for an average of 89 days, just under 18 percent more than for the same period last year.
