Smaller cars are gathering no moss.

Good things have been coming in small packages for area auto dealers, who have found that despite persistent demand for sport utility vehicles, it's hard to keep more compact cars on the lot.

A new report by Edmunds.com Inc., a Santa Monica-based firm that tracks the auto industry, found that Toyota's boxy Scion spends the least amount of time at the dealership of any brand--an average of 16 days nationwide--followed closely by BMW's MINI.

The "average days-to-turn," the time a vehicle sits on the lot, was 69 days in June for all brands nationwide, said Jesse Toprak, director of pricing and market analysis for Edmunds. In Los Angeles, he said, the numbers should skew lower.

"Sales volume here is much larger than the nation on average and we have a lot of big franchises which have been in business for a long time who know the patterns of business in L.A.," Toprak said.

The Scion, with a base sticker price of less than $12,500, spent on average a week less on the lot than did the tiny MINI, which carries a base sticker of $16,500.

For Xai Chan, sales manager at Wondries Scion in South Gate, the national numbers would be unacceptable. He said it takes an average of two days to sell a Scion.

As for the longest-sitting brands. Edmunds reported that the average Oldsmobile sat unsold for nearly five months.

Rapid Acceleration
The Scion, above, and the MINI, right, lead the pack in driving off
car lots fastest.

Fastest Brands    Days-to-Turn    Slowest Brands   Days-to-Turn

Scion                  16           Oldsmobile         144
MINI                   23           Isuzu              110
Lexus                  27           Buick              100
Acura                  33           Jaguar             99
Toyota                 39           Suzuki             99
                                    Mitsubishi         95