7 fastest-selling used cars last month were alternative-fuel vehicles
The automotive topic de jour — low vehicle supply, driven by a chip shortage, among other factors — is certainly at play in the iSeeCars.com list of fastest-selling used vehicles in January.
But there’s another major macro-economic driver leading to many of these cars flying off dealer lots: good ol’ fashioned high gas prices.
The entire top seven and 12 of the top 20 fastest-selling used vehicles last month were alternative-fuel models, according to an iSeeCars analysis. That list includes nine hybrids.
“Many of these hybrids are new models that are just coming to the used-car marketplace and are in short supply, including the Toyota Venza that debuted in 2021, the Toyota Corolla that debuted in 2020, and the Honda Insight that debuted in 2019,” iSeeCars executive analysis Karl Brauer said in the analysis.
“Just as in the new-car marketplace, hybrid and plug-in vehicles are hot sellers as fuel prices have increased by 40 percent in January compared to last year.”
The hybrids on the list include:
Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid (No. 2, 25.8 days to sell)
Honda Insight (No. 3, 25.9 days to sell)
Toyota Prius (No. 5, 26.7 days to sell)
Toyota Corolla Hybrid (No. 6, 27.6 days to sell)
Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid (No. 13, 29.3 days to sell)
Honda Accord Hybrid (No. 14, 29.5 days to sell)
Toyota Venza (No. 15, 29.8 days to sell)
Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid (No. 16, 29.8 days to sell)
Toyota Highlander Hybrid (No. 20, 30.9 days to sell)
The all-electrics include the Tesla Model Y, which was the fastest-selling used-car overall at 24.7 days to sell, and the Tesla Model 3, which came in at No. 4 and took 26.5 days to sell.
“The highly-anticipated Tesla Model Y was the best-selling electric vehicle in America in 2021 after making its debut in 2020, and the lightly-used versions that are just entering the used car marketplace are in high demand,” said Brauer.
Of the Model 3, he added: “A new version of the Model 3’s Standard Range Plus variant isn’t expected until June 2022, which further elevates the demand for used versions, some of which are being sold at higher prices than new versions.”
The third electric on the list is the Ford Mustang Mach-E, in seventh at 27.7 days to sell, according to iSeeCars.
Overall, used cars took an average of 46.2 days to sell in January, its data shows.