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Automotive flops

The automotive industry has seen its fair share of flops, from models to management people, to entire brands. While some cars flopped for being unreliable (Yugo), others flopped for design defects plaguing the car (Pontiac Fiero), missing their target audience (Edsel, Buick Reatta), poor design (Pontiac Aztek, Acura Vigor), while others don't really have a reason for flopping, but instead they had poor sales (Suzuki X90).

Vehicles

Acura Vigor

The Vigor was a mid-size sedan introduced in 1992 that fit between the Integra sedan and the Legend in Acura's lineup. Sales were slow due to the car's 5-cylinder engine, small size, and poor interior design. It was cancelled after only 3 years in production.

Bricklin SV-1

This safety/sports car from Canada suffered from quality problems. Just 2,857 were sold in 3 years.

Buick Reatta

The Reatta was an aerodynamically-styled car originally made by Buick to attract "mature" buyers. But the car's controversial styling and heavy amount of computerized features worked against the car in its intended market. The car was mostly handbuilt and the Reatta sold just 21,751 units in a 4 year run from 1988 to 1991.

Cadillac V8-6-4 variable cylinder engine

Poor reliability and dubious benefit doomed the variable displacement concept for a decade.

Cadillac Allante

Cadillac's first convertible for almost 20 years. The Allante was introduced for the 1987 model year and was by far Cadillac's most expensive vehicle. All parts for manufacture were shipped from Italy to the US where the vehicle was assembled by hand. The relatively high price alongside the lack of an engine as powerful as those commonly found in the price range at the time caused sales to be only 21,000 units over a 4 year run. The Allante also was no help to Cadillac's reputation since it was hacked up due to the Cimarron debacle just before the Allante entered production. Cadillac successfully relaunched the idea of an upmarket convertible with the Cadillac XLR.

Cadillac Cimarron

The first compact Cadillac, was developed as part of GM's mid 1980s downsizing. GM rushed the Cimarron into production about three years ahead of schedule, denying Cadillac time to develop a more refined car and requiring the use of a four-cylinder engine as the V6 would not be ready for a few more years. It was initially sold as "Cimarron by Cadillac", implying a lack of confidence on Cadillac's part. Sales were disappointing as its size and styling did not prove popular with Cadillac buyers. Not only was the vehicle perceived as being too small for a Cadillac, it shared many design components with its much cheaper Chevrolet cousin. Though the Cimarron was eventually improved to the point of complete competence, sales never improved and its initial impression on the public continued to hurt Cadillac's reputation as builder or luxury cars in the important 35-45 demographic segment. After seven years, the Cimarron was discontinued.

Caterham 21

Intended as a modern, more practical alternative to the Caterham/Lotus Seven. Unfortunately, Lotus successfully reinvented the Seven themselves at the same time with the Lotus Elise.

Chevrolet Corvair

While the Corvair was an early sales success, design flaws highlighted by Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed proved to be the car's downfall. Despite fixing the problem that Nader detailed in his book, and the successful 1965 redesign, General Motors halted future development of the car and sales declined for the Corvair for the rest of its lifetime.

Chrysler Airflow

The Airflow's advanced aerodynamic design made the mistake of being too far ahead of its mid-1930s era; in the depths of the Great Depression, consumers avoided the car because of its odd appearance and falsly rumored unsafe conditions. The failure of the Airflow pushed Chrysler design the conservative extreme, resulting in the "three-box" designs launched in 1949.

Chrysler Crossfire

DaimlerChrysler reportedly paid Karmann to reduce production with sales running 1/3 of predicted levels.

De Lorean

Roughly 9,000 were built before John De Lorean's arrest on charges of cocaine-smuggling (which he was later acquitted for) closed the factory two years after its launch.

Dodge Dakota convertible

In 1989, Dodge created a convertible version of its popular Dakota pickup truck, with a ragtop in place of a cab with a small rollbar installed. The general public thought that the design was too awkward and that the idea of a convertible pickup was absurd. Only 2,000 units were sold in two years.

Dodge Rampage

The Dodge Rampage was a mixture of a car and a pickup truck; it was based upon the Dodge Omni. The Rampage was a front-wheel drive truck, which is not normally used for trucks because a heavy load on the rear of the truck can cause traction problems. This is mainly considered to be the downfall of the Rampage, along with a weak engine. Its Plymouth Scamp twin only sold around 2,000 units, making it one of the rarest Plymouths ever created.

Buckminster Fuller's 1933 Dymaxion car

Original and innovative, but a fatal crash and safety issues with rear-wheel steering aborted investor interest and further development. A total of three were built.

Dodge Charger Daytona/Plymouth Superbird

The Charger Daytona and the Superbird were built to be the best at NASCAR, and they were. Because of this, street versions were built. Unfortunately, they were criticized for their radical styling, and the rounded front noses led to the car overheating easily. NASCAR later banned the design, and production ceased, with 500 Charger Daytonas and 2,000 Superbirds being built. This has meant that they are very collectible, with an all original Superbird recently being sold at over US$200,000 on eBay.

Ford Ranger EV

Ford's only electric-powered pickup truck. There were numerous problems with the NiMH battery-equipped Rangers associated with an inability to accept a charge in hot environmental conditions, and some other problems requiring replacement of major components, but Ford successfully addressed these problems early in the vehicle's life cycle. There were some range issues around the 25,000 mile service life with the NiMH batteries, and due to the great expense of these batteries, Ford elected not to fix this range problem (a valid response under the lease terms). Some leases elected to continue the lease despite the shorter range.

Ford Taurus Ghia

Since its introduction in 1986, the Ford Taurus has been one of Ford's most successful models. But when Ford tried to push the slightly modified Taurus on European and Australian buyers, renamed the "Taurus Ghia", it learned the hard way that just because a car is successful in one market doesn't mean that it will be successful in another.

GMC Envoy XUV

Despite the grondbreaking retractable roof feature first seen on the 1963 Wagonaire, the XUV failed to sell like in sufficient volume to justify the expense to General Motors to continue marketing the vehicle. This vehicle was discontinued after only 2 years since introduction.

Hudson Jet

With its race proven step-down bodied full-size cars in their sixth year, Hudson gambled almost everything that it had into the development of the Hudson Jet, a compact car designed by committee. While Hudson sold more than 40,000 units, the impact to the bottomline was so negative that the company was forced to merge with rival Nash in 1954 to form American Motors. (See 1956 Hudson)

Hudson 1956-1957

Following a poor showing in 1955 when Hudson's nameplate was applied to modified Nash bodied cars, AMC hired designer Richard Arbib to create a unique personality for Hudson. The designer christened his design motif as the V-Line Style, which applied liberal amounts of chrome in "V" patterns from front to fin and everything in between. The resulting cars were both grotesque and a burlesque of design gone awry. The public reacted by shunning Hudson, which saw its sales drop to 10,671 units (92% off its 1949 production) for 1956 and just 4,108 in 1957.

Jaguar XJ220

The XJ220 concept car was unveiled to great response. Because of this, Jaguar put it into production to compete with Lamborghini and Ferrari. Many potential buyers were disappointed by the fact that it didn't come with a V12 or four wheel drive, like the concept, and sales were poor.

Leyland P76

Infamous in Australia as a commercial flop.

Lincoln Blackwood

The Blackwood was intended to be a luxurious version of the Ford F-150, much like the Lincoln Navigator was to the Ford Expedition. A velvet-lined bed, low towing capability, and a single exterior color led to the cancellation of this model after 15 months with 3,356 sold. Lincoln has reintroduced a more practical luxury pick-up under the Lincoln Mark LT nameplate.

Lincoln Versailles

The Versailles was introduced for the 1977 model year as Lincoln's new mid-size sports sedan, meant to compete with the Cadillac Seville. The vehicle failed however, due to its many similarties in terms of exterior and interior design with its lesser Ford Granada and Mercury Monarch cousins. The Versailles featured the same dashboard and exterior contour as the much cheaper Ford Granada and failed to meet the standards of Lincoln buyers. Lincoln slightly modified the rear sail panels hoping that the modification would reduce the visual relationship to the Grenada and Monarch, however the change failed to attract consumers. The produciton of the Versailles ended for the 1981 model year.

Mazda Navajo

The Mazda Navajo was a two-door badged engineered SUV that was abased on the Ford Explorer Sport. Even though four-door Explorer sales soared the day it was introduced and became the best selling SUV, the two-door Sport sales were not eqaully as good, and the Navajo sold poorly. When the Explorer was redesigned in 1995, the Navajo was discontinued and the capacity given over to producing the new Mercury Mountaineer, in 1997.

Mercury Marauder

The Marauder was introduced in 2003 as a modern day muscle car. However the Marauder suffered from lackluster sales, blamed by some on bland styling, gutless performance, and incorrect target audience. It didn't return for the 2005 model year.

Mitsubishi Raider

The Dodge Dakota clone sold so poorly that Mitsubishi has reportedly stopped production after just four months.

NSU Ro 80

A stylish and advanced car that was plagued by early reliability problems with its revolutionary Wankel engine. The resulting financial crisis lead to the company being acquired by Volkswagen.

Oldsmobile 5.7 L diesel engine

Also marketed as the Olds 350 Diesel, it was offered in General Motors automobiles between 1978 and 1985. Because it was a modified gasoline engine rather than a proper diesel design, the unit had a tendency to tear itself apart. So poor was this engine's reliability record that small diesel engines were shunned by U.S. consumers for a generation.

Pontiac Aztek

Controversial styling resulted in just over 27,000 sales per year instead of an expected 50,000 to 70,000. GM Vice President Robert Lutz regularly referred to the Aztec as looking like "an agry appliance" and a symptom of what was wrong with GM's vehicle styling programs. Discontinued in 2005.

Pontiac Fiero

Originally conceived as a commuter car, the Fiero was initially a sales success. However the car received negative reviews by Car & Driver and Motor Trend magazines for not having enough power in acelleration tests. In mid-course, Pontiac began to remarket the car as a mid-engine sports car. A design defect in the car's 4-cylinder engine caused it to catch fire. While the V6 version didn't suffer from this problem, the Fiero's reputation was damaged, and even after GM worked out all the flaws, sales fell to an unprofitiable level. GM discontinued it in 1988.

Renault Avantime

Renault teamed up with Matra to build the next modern European MPV. Many buyers didn't like its strange styling which sacrificed passenger room. Matra later went bankrupt, and Renault scrapped the Avantime after two years in production. Only 8,450 Avantimes were produced.

Sinclair C5

A battery-powered tricycle designed by Sir Clive Sinclair.

Subaru SVX

The Subaru SVX was the only production car to date to have an all around glass canopy. The car failed in every market it was sold in due to lack of marketing dollars, concerns of safety in a rollover and radical styling; the car's introduction also came at a time when American consumers were beginning their love affair with SUVs. It was also plagued with known reliability problems due to its heavy weight. Worldwide production of the SVX never topped 40,000 units through a 6 year run.

Suzuki X-90

This 2-seater sporty mini-SUV was not welcomed in the market. Just 7,205 were sold in 3 years, making it among the slowest-selling full-production vehicles in history.

Toyota Project Genesis

A series of three automobiles born in the late-1990s/2000 - which included the Toyota Echo, Toyota MR2 Spyder, and redesigned Toyota Celica - intented to make inroads to the younger Gen Y market segment. All three models failed to meet sales expectations and have been discontinuted in favor of the separate Scion line.

Toyota T-100

Japan's first entry into the large American pickup truck market fell far short due to its weak towing capacity, mid-sized frame, and engine choices of either a large I4 or a small V6.

Vauxhall Firenza hpF

Just 204 built instead of the projected 30,000+. Killed by the fuel crisis, its rarity has at least assured it classic status in modern times.

Volkswagen 412

Volkswagen's last rear-engine, air-cooled car. Although it had interesting and novel technologies at the time (MacPherson struts in front, independent rear suspension, fuel injection, a supplemental heater powered by gasoline), the car was only produced from 1969 until July 1974.

Yugo

This Yugoslavian car was sold in the United States from 1986 to 1990, and quickly gained a reputation for being as unreliable as it was cheap. It was featured in the movie Dragnet as a punishment for Dan Aykroyd's character's repeated crashing of his cars, and was referred to as "the latest in Serbo-Croatian technology". Yugo has become to cheapness as Lexus has become to quality.

Brands

Asuna

General Motors launched this brand in Canada to accompany its Geo brand, and to give Buick and GMC dealers low cost cars. Sales were extremely poor, mostly because Asuna's 2 models were also available as Geos, and as a result, Asuna dissappeared after juat a year.

Daewoo

This Korean marque flopped badly in some markets, especially the United States. When Daewoo made its U.S. debut for the 1999 model year, it sold cars through independent contractors on college campuses rather than at conventional dealerships. U.S. sales ended in 2002 when Daewoo Motor America went bankrupt. New owner General Motors has dropped the Daewoo name outside Asia in favor of its Chevrolet brand. However, Daewoo sales have been moderately successful in some regions, such as the UK and Ireland. Daewoo cars are currently being sold in the U.S. as Suzukis and Chevrolets.

Eagle

The Eagle brand was formed by Chrysler from the remains of AMC. Aimed at the enthusiast driver, sales of the badge engineered cars faltered and the marque was folded after 11 years. Only the Eagle Talon sports car was an sales success, due in part to the fact that it was the same vehicle as the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Plymouth Laser.

Edsel

One of the biggest and most lavish new car line launches in history quickly became a legendary flop. Just over 100,000 were built in four years. In 1960, Edsel's final model year, only a few thousand were built, enough to use up the parts backstock. It was named after Henry Ford's son.

Liberty

In May 1985, hot on the heals of General Motors announced partnership with Toyota (NUMMI) and the launch of the Geo nameplate, Lee Iacocca announced the formation of the "Liberty" a new Chrysler marque targeting younger, import-loyal car buyers. Before the Liberty could get to the formation stage, Chrysler acquired American Motors for the rights to Jeep, and Liberty quietly disappeared, when Chrysler decieded to launch Eagle as it's youth targeted brand.

Merkur

This U.S. marque, which consisted of two rebadged European Ford models, lasted only four years.

Sterling

This American version of the British Rover 800 suffered from poor build quality, feeble performance and a lack of brand recognition. Sales dropped from 15,000 in 1988 to fewer than 2,000 in 1991.

Tucker

Preston Tucker's streamlined automobile with a rear engine and then-innovative safety features. Tucker's attempt to launch a major automobile company failed, either due to conspiracy by the major manufacturers, shady financial maneuvers by Tucker or both. A total of 51 were built.

Management

Jacques Nasser's position as head of Ford

When Nasser became head of Ford, he made pointless investments in small companies in order "To make Ford the number one provider of automobiles and automotive services". His tough business practices alienated Ford employees, suppliers, and dealerships, and the Ford family was also alienated by his poor handling of the controversy over camshaft failure on the Ford Taurus SHO. When he nearly ruined Ford's reputation with the Firestone Tire Controversy, the Ford family had seen enough, and they replaced him with William Clay Ford, Jr. Nasser was the head of Ford for only 3 years.

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.