IRVINE, Calif. -

Used-vehicle shoppers are feeling pretty sporty this month, judging by Kelley Blue Book’s Hot Used-Car Report.

Sports cars and high-performance models led the month-over-month jumps in shopping activity growth so far in May with two particular used vehicles standing out the most.

Interest in the 2009 Volkswagen GLI soared a whopping 171.9 percent higher month-over-month. Shopping activity connected to the 2010 Mazda Miata MX-5 increased by a healthy margin, too, rising 43.5 percent.

KBB indicated the share of research toward sports cars increased 9.4 percent among total used retail traffic. Research into high-performance models wasn’t far off that pace as interest in those vehicles rose 6.5 percent in April, marking the second consecutive monthly increase.

“It is no surprise that performance-oriented vehicles have been increasing in popularity for the past couple of months,” said Arthur Henry, manager of market intelligence and market analyst at KBB.

“As the days get longer, people have more daylight time to have fun in their vehicles. We have been seeing more interest for import performance vehicles than domestic models. It appears shoppers are choosing vehicles that are better known for handling than power,” Henry went on to say.

The remainder of the Top 10 used models within the Hot Used-Car Report contained a couple other examples of vehicles that can hold their own in terms of sporty styling or performance. The rest of the used vehicles most researched at KBB included:

—2010 Infiniti G: up 17.0 percent
—2011 Honda CR-V: up 15.1 percent
—2007 Jeep Wrangler: up 15.1 percent
—2010 Nissan Maxima: up 13.7 percent
—2011 Honda Pilot: up 12.9 percent
—2011 BMW 3 Series: up 10.5 percent
—2010 Nissan Altima: up 9.3 percent
—2010 Honda Civic: up 6.1 percent

And for dealers who are scratching their heads over why some certain models continue to remain in inventory with summer dead ahead, perhaps the list provided by KBB of vehicles that sustained the largest drops in shopper activity this month might provide some clarity.

That list included a mix of both import and domestic units, as follows:

—2009 Nissan Altima: down 7.5 percent
—2007 Scion tC: down 13.5 percent
—2009 Honda Fit: down 14.6 percent
—2010 Chevrolet Cobalt: down 16.1 percent
—2009 Hyundai Accent: down 17.5 percent
—2009 Lexus IS: down 18.4 percent
—2009 Chevrolet Equinox: down 24.4 percent
—2009 Saturn Outlook: down 27.5 percent
—2011 Mitsubishi Galant: down 28.0 percent
—2009 Infiniti M: down 30.7 percent

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