December's Fastest & Slowest Selling Cars
Automakers won't report December sales results until later today, but we have data on the month's fastest and slowest sellers. The redesigned Toyota Avalon hit dealerships in the first week of December, and it stormed the fastest-selling list, with regular and hybrid versions averaging just 8 days apiece on dealer lots. Shoppers moved toward the Ford F-Series Super Duty pickup truck, too. That’s likely a result of an improved construction market; November housing starts hit their 2nd highest rate since mid-2008.

The redesigned Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, which hit dealerships in September, spent its 3rd month among the fastest sellers; the new-for-2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek also marked its 3rd month on the list. Of the 18 fastest-selling cars, 10 were repeat performers, with such regulars as the redesigned Subaru Impreza and new Scion FR-S. The Kia Soul's severe mileage downgrade doesn't seem to have sapped demand, and neither has the popular hatchback's age. It debuted way back in early 2009, but in December it placed among the fastest sellers for the 3rd month in a row.

On the flip side, the Acura ILX spent its 2nd month on the Losers list (the ILX Hybrid made November's list). Have buyers snubbed it for the related and less expensive Civic from parent company Honda? The Civic's substantial updates narrow the quality gap between the 2, and buyers in December flocked toward the revised Honda, which averaged just 10 days on dealer lots. Stay tuned to see how both cars fare in today's sales results.

Cars in December 2012 averaged 33 days to turn. That's an uptick versus both November 2012's 28 days and December 2011's 29 days. As is custom this time of year, we looked only at 2013 inventory in December since dealers have cleared out the majority of 2012s. Here are the fastest and slowest sellers:

December Movers

2013 Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec: 7 days
2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek: 7 days
2013 GMC Acadia: 8 days
2013 Toyota Avalon: 8 days
2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid: 8 days
2013 Ford F-250 crew cab: 10 days
2013 Ford F-350 crew cab: 10 days
2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid: 10 days
2013 Honda Civic sedan: 10 days
2013 Nissan Pathfinder: 11 days
2013 Subaru Impreza hatchback: 12 days
2013 Audi Q5: 13 days
2013 Mercedes-Benz GL450: 13 days
2013 Scion FR-S: 14 days
2013 Toyota Prius v: 14 days
2013 BMW 328i xDrive sedan: 15 days
2013 Buick Enclave: 15 days
2013 Kia Soul: 15 days

December Losers

2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco: 135 days
2013 Mazda6: 123 days
2013 Volvo XC90: 99 days
2013 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid: 99 days
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid: 96 days
2013 Smart ForTwo convertible: 91 days
2013 Volkswagen CC: 84 days
2013 Nissan GT-R: 82 days
2013 Kia Forte hatchback: 76 days
2013 Acura ILX: 76 days

Cars.com Picks

2013 Dodge Durango: 52 days
2013 Volkswagen Golf four-door: 54 days
2013 Infiniti EX37: 56 days
2013 Chevrolet Malibu: 57 days
2013 Lexus GS 350: 66 days

About the Lists
The Fastest- and Slowest-Selling Cars list reports the average number of days it takes to sell models from the day they arrive on the lot until the final paperwork is signed by a buyer. This is not a days-of-inventory list like you may find on other websites. We look exclusively at 2013s now, calling the fastest sellers Movers and the slowest ones Losers.

For Movers, we only list vehicles that pass a certain threshold of sales in order to weed out limited editions, ultra-high-performance cars and others that might skew the numbers or otherwise inaccurately portray popularity. To highlight all slow sellers, losers have no such threshold.

Our Picks highlight cars that take a significant time before they're sold and might be overlooked by shoppers. Dealers could be more motivated to sell these cars.