The Toyota RAV4 Prime appeared on the list of the fastest-selling new cars in the U.S. in the month of March 2021, while Tesla Model 3 for the very first time appeared on the fastest-selling used cars list.

According to the iSeeCars' report, the average new car takes 47.4 days to sell and the average used car takes 39.4 days to sell.

New cars - Toyota RAV4 Prime #2

In the case of Toyota RAV4 Prime, the average days to sell was 10.2, which is the second-best result overall! But we know that this number will not tell us anything about the RAV4, because the Japanese plug-in hybrid is production constrained and delivered in relatively low volume (2,792 units in Q1).

We assume that demand for the RAV4 Prime is high, especially since even the conventional hybrid version is among the fastest-selling models with an average 22.0 days, but a single data point is not enough to gauge the real value.

An interesting thing is the average price of $44,201, which is way higher than the MSRP of $38,100 ($31,775 effectively after the DST and deducting federal tax credit).

iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer explains that the reason behind the high average price is dealers that add up to $10,000, benefiting from the limited supply:

"The Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid ranks second and makes its debut on the fastest-selling new car list. “The RAV4 Prime is a brand new model that had a limited production in its first year and was just delivered to select states. Battery supply constraints caused demand to dramatically outpace supply, so much so that dealers were marking the vehicle up to $10,000 above MSRP.” "

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Used cars - Tesla Model 3 #7

Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model X First Drive
Tesla Model X

March was an interesting month also because the Tesla Model 3 for the very first time has appeared among the top 20 fastest-selling vehicles (Model X was listed in January and February).

Tesla Model 3 was classified at #7 with 29.8 days on average ant the average price of $40,052. That's not bad.

"The Tesla Model 3 makes its first appearance on the fastest-selling used car list in the seventh position. It replaces the Tesla Model X, which appeared on the list in January and February. “The Tesla Model 3 sold a week faster in March compared to February, while the Tesla Model X maintained the same selling time but fell off the list due to other cars’ shorter times on dealers’ lots,” said Brauer. “The Tesla Model 3 is likely selling faster than the Tesla Model X because it’s more affordable and is attracting more buyers who are switching to EVs due to higher gas prices.”"

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Alternative Fuel Vehicles - New and Used

iSeeCars notes that a few other new plug-ins/hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are also selling quickly, like the Toyota Mirai (23.5 days at $48,690) and Ford Mustang Mach-E (23.8 days at $54,771).

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