The Worst Selling New Cars in America - May 2026
These are the new cars that the fewest Americans are buying right now. Low sales volume often means dealers are eager to negotiate - making these some of the best deals on the market if the car fits your needs.
- All States (National)
- Alaska AK
- Alabama AL
- Arkansas AR
- Arizona AZ
- California CA
- Colorado CO
- Connecticut CT
- Delaware DE
- Florida FL
- Georgia GA
- Hawaii HI
- Iowa IA
- Idaho ID
- Illinois IL
- Indiana IN
- Kansas KS
- Kentucky KY
- Louisiana LA
- Massachusetts MA
- Maryland MD
- Maine ME
- Michigan MI
- Minnesota MN
- Missouri MO
- Mississippi MS
- Montana MT
- North Carolina NC
- North Dakota ND
- Nebraska NE
- New Hampshire NH
- New Jersey NJ
- New Mexico NM
- Nevada NV
- New York NY
- Ohio OH
- Oklahoma OK
- Oregon OR
- Pennsylvania PA
- Rhode Island RI
- South Carolina SC
- South Dakota SD
- Tennessee TN
- Texas TX
- Utah UT
- Virginia VA
- Vermont VT
- Washington WA
- Wisconsin WI
- West Virginia WV
- Wyoming WY
Low sales ≠ bad car. The 2026 Aston Martin Dbx has the fewest sales with just 25 units sold in 45 days despite having 270 on dealer lots. Low sales can mean the model is newly launched, recently redesigned, in a niche segment, or simply priced above the competition. For buyers, that translates to negotiating leverage.
Least Popular New Cars in May 2026 (by Volume)
Ranked by the fewest units sold nationwide in the last 45 days. These are the cars that the fewest Americans are buying right now - often due to high prices, competition from better alternatives, a recent redesign that hasn't caught on yet, or a brand-new launch still ramping up.
| # | Vehicle | MDS | Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  2026 Aston Martin Dbx | 486 days | 25 14% |
| 2 |  2026 Bentley Continental Gt | 390 days | 33 8% |
| 3 |  2026 Maserati Grecale | 325 days | 35 5% |
| 4 |  2026 Polestar 4 | 710 days | 35 119% |
| 5 |  2026 Audi Sq7 | 248 days | 48 23% |
| 6 | 2026 Aston Martin Vantage | 203 days | 54 4% |
| 7 |  2026 Lotus Emira | 253 days | 54 35% |
| 8 |  2026 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Crew Van | 198 days | 55 77% |
| 9 | 2026 Audi A8 | 98 days | 57 33% |
| 10 | 2026 Mercedes-Benz EQS | 134 days | 59 74% |
▲ / ▼ show month-over-month change on the Sold column vs. the previous month's snapshot. New means the vehicle wasn't in last month's top rankings.
Why Are Some Cars Selling Poorly?
There are several reasons a new car might appear on the worst-selling list - and most of them have nothing to do with quality:
- Brand-new launch: A recently launched model might only have a few weeks of sales data. The 2026 model year is still early, and some vehicles are just arriving at dealers.
- Niche appeal: Luxury and specialty vehicles (sports cars, commercial vans, ultra-luxury sedans) naturally sell in lower volumes. That doesn't mean they're unpopular - they serve a smaller market.
- Price positioning: Some models are priced above their competitors, leading buyers to choose alternatives. This is where the biggest discounts tend to appear.
- Transition periods: When a new generation launches, the previous model may still be on lots alongside the replacement, splitting sales.
- EV adoption curve: Some electric vehicles appear on this list as the market adjusts to new pricing and charging infrastructure realities.
How to Score a Deal on a Worst-Selling Car
The worst-selling list is essentially a buyer's cheat sheet. These vehicles have the most pressure on dealers to move inventory, which means:
- Bigger dealer discounts. When a car isn't selling, the dealer is more motivated to negotiate. Start your offer below invoice price.
- Manufacturer incentives. Automakers pile on cash rebates, 0% APR financing, and lease specials to boost lagging models. Check our deals page for current offers.
- Less competition from other buyers. You won't be fighting over limited inventory or dealing with dealer markups. Take your time, get quotes from multiple dealers.
- Use data as leverage. Walking into a dealership with this data gives you a concrete reason to negotiate. "This model has only sold 25 units in 45 days - I'd like to see a competitive offer."
Worst Selling vs. Slowest Selling: What's the Difference?
These two lists overlap but measure different things:
- Worst selling (this page) = fewest total units sold. A car could sell 20 units in 45 days from just 100 on lots - low volume, but the inventory is moving.
- Slowest selling = highest Market Day Supply. A car might sell 2,000 units, but if there are 20,000 on lots, it has a very high MDS.
Both lists are useful for deal-seekers. The worst-selling list highlights vehicles that are simply not popular right now. The slowest-selling list highlights vehicles with the most inventory relative to demand - including some popular cars that are just overstocked.
Check Depreciation Before You Buy
Some worst-selling cars depreciate faster than average. Before buying, check CarEdge depreciation rankings to understand the long-term cost of ownership. On the flip side, steep depreciation on new cars means great deals on used versions of these models.
Our Data & Methodology
New Car Market Snapshot
2,867,287
Total New Listings
2,240,426
On Dealer Lots
587,338
In Transit (20%)
51,104
Unavailable / Excluded
How We Calculate Market Day Supply
Market Day Supply (MDS) measures how long it would take to sell all available inventory at the current sales pace. We calculate it as:
Importantly, we use on-lot inventory only - vehicles physically at dealerships and available for immediate purchase. We exclude:
- In-transit vehicles (20% of market) - cars that have been built and shipped but haven't arrived at the dealer yet. These aren't available to test drive or buy today.
- Excluded listings - vehicles flagged as unavailable, sold, or otherwise not actively for sale.
We also exclude vehicles with fewer than 100 on-lot listings nationwide. This filters out ultra-low-volume models (limited editions, commercial variants, etc.) where small inventory swings would produce misleading MDS numbers.
This means our "For Sale" numbers reflect what you'd actually find on a dealer lot or available to purchase on CarEdge car search - not inflated totals from industry databases that count every car on a truck.
Why This Matters
For newly launched or redesigned models, the difference can be dramatic. A car might have 20,000 units in the industry pipeline, but only 8,000 on dealer lots. Using the larger number would make the car look like it's sitting unsold when in reality dealers can barely keep up. Our on-lot methodology gives you the most accurate picture of what's actually happening at dealerships.
Data Sources
Inventory and sales data is aggregated from dealership listings across the United States, covering new vehicles at the year/make/model level. Sales volume reflects the past 45 days. Data was last updated on May 3, 2026.