CINCINNATI -

Who’s buying cars and who’s getting rid of them? Online automotive lease marketplace Swapalease.com has noticed some trends when it comes to which states are gaining more cars and which are losing units.

The site facilitates lease transfers online and the company says it has first-hand knowledge of how online automotive marketplaces have altered the geographic makeup of vehicle inventory from state to state.

Thus, it raises the following question: “With people changing vehicles with each other, which states are adding cars and losing them?”

According to data from Swapalease, patterns have begun to emerge.

Interestingly, the top area for cars entering the state is the home of the Big 3, with 287.5 percent more cars entering Michigan as opposed to leaving.

And according to Swapalease customer transfer data, Michigan is tops for cars being imported from nearby states and others as far as California and Florida.

Following Michigan were two states recently ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. New Jersey is second highest, with 122.4 percent more cars entering compared with cars leaving the state, and New York is third at 82.1 percent more entering.

Commenting on the results, Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease said, "The import numbers for New Jersey and New York could grow significantly in the near term, as vehicle inventory from other regions are brought in to satisfy replacement demand from vehicles destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Other states high on the list such as Michigan speak to the extremely low in-state inventory levels in the marketplace."

As for states that are seeing a high rate of units leaving the state, Illinois leads the pack, with 181.3 percent more vehicles departing compared with entering the state.

Swapalease explained that states like Illinois and Maryland (150 percent more departures and second on list) simply have a surplus of inventory in the marketplace, while other exit-heavy states like Texas (147 percent more departures) and Florida (24.1 percent) have vehicles in good condition from warm weather sought after by drivers in other states.