Though the U.S. auto market has improved significantly from where it was in 2020, car dealers are still struggling to get back to normal. According to automotive data company Black Book, new car sales were down 14% in June 2021, compared to June of 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic year for auto sales.
With sales down, some cars have been relegated to gathering dust on dealer lots. The average new car purchased in June took 41.7 days to sell. Yet some vehicles averaged more than three months to sell.
To determine the cars that stay on dealer lots the longest, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from car search engine iSeeCars on the new vehicles with the highest average days to sell as of June 2021.
Cars may take longer to sell for a number of reasons — they could have prices well beyond what consumers are willing to pay or they might just be much less popular than other similar cars.
Nearly all of the slowest selling cars are small to midsize sedans or small to midsize SUVs. There are five different Ford vehicles on the list, the most of any manufacturer. Nissan vehicles appear on the list four times, and Mitsubishi vehicles three times.
A worldwide semiconductor chip shortage has cut into manufacturers’ ability to produce new cars and significantly reduced the supply of cars getting to dealers’ lots. Demand, meanwhile, continued to be strong, and June was the first month in which the inventory backlog was no longer sufficient to meet demand. In the case of some popular cars, dealers only have a few weeks’ worth of supply remaining. This is how close dealers are to running out of America’s most popular cars.
Click here to see the cars that stay on dealer lots the longest.
25. Nissan Titan
> Avg. days to sell: 72.6
> Avg. price: $51,615
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24. Chrysler 300
> Avg. days to sell: 73.3
> Avg. price: $34,690
23. Ford Escape
> Avg. days to sell: 74.0
> Avg. price: $30,684
22. Nissan Altima
> Avg. days to sell: 75.9
> Avg. price: $28,235
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21. Honda Civic
> Avg. days to sell: 77.2
> Avg. price: $24,260
20. Mitsubishi Mirage G4
> Avg. days to sell: 77.7
> Avg. price: $17,490
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19. Nissan Maxima
> Avg. days to sell: 78.5
> Avg. price: $40,955
18. Ford Explorer
> Avg. days to sell: 79.7
> Avg. price: $45,640
17. Infiniti QX50
> Avg. days to sell: 82.1
> Avg. price: $46,807
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16. Lincoln Nautilus
> Avg. days to sell: 82.4
> Avg. price: $52,394
15. Mitsubishi Mirage
> Avg. days to sell: 83.4
> Avg. price: $16,801
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14. Ford Mustang
> Avg. days to sell: 83.8
> Avg. price: $46,855
13. Jeep Compass
> Avg. days to sell: 86.1
> Avg. price: $30,461
12. Lincoln Corsair
> Avg. days to sell: 86.1
> Avg. price: $45,621
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11. Acura TLX
> Avg. days to sell: 90.9
> Avg. price: $44,763
10. Chevrolet Malibu
> Avg. days to sell: 93.6
> Avg. price: $22,090
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9. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
> Avg. days to sell: 94.6
> Avg. price: $24,006
8. Nissan Versa
> Avg. days to sell: 97.4
> Avg. price: $18,822
7. Ford Explorer Hybrid
> Avg. days to sell: 100.8
> Avg. price: $53,484
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6. Ford Ecosport
> Avg. days to sell: 102.9
> Avg. price: $24,191
5. Chevrolet Trax
> Avg. days to sell: 105.3
> Avg. price: $23,120
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4. Alfa Romeo Stelvio
> Avg. days to sell: 121.3
> Avg. price: $48,477
3. Alfa Romeo Giulia
> Avg. days to sell: 128.1
> Avg. price: $44,794
2. Cadillac Xt4
> Avg. days to sell: 128.9
> Avg. price: $46,264
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1. Dodge Journey
> Avg. days to sell: 136.6
> Avg. price: $23,753
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