The worldwide popularity of a vehicle model doesn’t guarantee its eternal life. Even if a car manufacturer reaches an optimal price-performance ratio for a product lineup or a new version of a well-known configuration, the automotive market has its own rules.
There are various situations and reasons for the production’s closure. For instance, we can highlight low demand, outdated technologies, cost reduction, etc. Even famous luxury car manufacturers have to give up their auto lineups and models sometimes.
We’ve collected the top popular vehicle models that were discontinued due to various reasons, though still one may find them via online car auctions. In our article, you’ll find only those car configurations whose revival isn’t expected in the near future.
Toyota FJ Cruiser
The FJ Cruiser is probably Toyota’s most stylish SUV. However, the excellent design wasn’t able to save the model. Its manufacturing stopped in 2017, when the last farewell special version of the car was released. However, Toyota launched the final lineup in Japan exclusively. The FJ has not been produced serially since 2013.
The Japanese brand didn’t explain their decision to say goodbye to the FJ Cruiser version. Most likely, the problems originated in the car’s state. The SUV configuration was outdated both morally and technically. Besides all that, its sales dropped rapidly and lost their high figures.
The Toyota FJ Cruiser was built on the frame and chassis of the Land Cruiser Prado. The car was appreciated for its simplicity, high ground clearance, and towing capacity. At the same time, it was severely criticized for poor visibility, a small trunk, and uncomfortable rear seats.
Audi TT
Audi also had to cut its expenses. To make the manufacturing optimization less harmful for the brand, it was decided to abandon one of its sports cars—the TT coupe. Speaking about the car’s technical specifications, the Audi TT configuration is based on the Volkswagen platform. You can find automobiles offered with both gasoline and diesel engines that have capacities ranging from 184 to 310 hp. However, on the most powerful Audi TT version, the RS, the 2.5-liter turbo engine produces up to 460 hp.
Mitsubishi Pajero
The Mitsubishi Pajero is a legend in the world of off-road vehicles. At the same time, even this title didn’t save the vehicle from “extinction.” The Pajero was discontinued in 2021, and it won’t have a successor in the future.
In Japan, the farewell to the Pajero configuration was delayed. SUVs had been assembled there for export even after the official lineup closure, but the demand for them continued to fall. In this regard, Mitsubishi decided to curtail production.
Mercedes X-Class
The Mercedes X-Class is the youngest model in our selection. The pickup debuted in 2018. A year later, the first rumors appeared that the Germans intended to withdraw the model from production. Unfortunately, it happened in May 2020. Production of the X-Class configuration was stopped. The low popularity of the X-Class is explained by the inflated price and several recall campaigns that had to be carried out to eliminate factory defects.
The company built this vehicle, which is the first Mercedes pickup, on Nissan Navara units. The car was produced at a Spanish factory. The range of pickup engines consisted of Renault-Nissan diesels and a German turbodiesel V6 with a capacity of 258 hp.
Chevrolet Aveo
The history of Aveo began back in 2002. In different countries, the model was sold under different names. Unfortunately, it became known back in 2018 that the Chevrolet Aveo would soon go down in history. Then General Motors, which owns Chevrolet, announced plans to focus on crossovers, SUVs, and electric vehicles instead of simple and common sedans. However, we can understand this step nowadays since the automotive market required changes back then. That’s why Aveo’s sales had been steadily declining in recent years before the lineup closure. For example, if dealers sold 55,200 cars in the United States in 2016, sales in 2019 decreased rapidly to 13,900 units.
The COVID-19 pandemic put the final dot in the history book of the Chevrolet Aveo. As a result, the company sold 4,300 units in the first quarter of 2020. So, the last Aveo configuration, the second generation of Chevrolet Aveo T300, was canceled in 2020.
Volkswagen Beetle
The last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line in July 2019. One of the most popular models in the world was produced for 80 years. Volkswagen assembled its most popular car at several enterprises, including in Germany and Mexico.
A well-known German engineer, Ferdinand Porsche, created the Beetle configuration. The car was designed from the start to be a low-cost vehicle for the public. For decades, the Beetle had a rear-engine layout until the new Beetle version appeared in 1998, based on the architecture of the Volkswagen Golf. Unfortunately, we’ve lost this affordable and fun vehicle today, but still there are a lot of propositions on insurance car auctions.
Wrap Up
The automotive industry is constantly changing, and sometimes its dynamic development forces car manufacturers to abandon some vehicle models, even promising and high-quality ones that might have gone on to become classic cars in the end. In our article, we’ve reviewed some of these automobiles, which could have been at the top of car sales for quite a long time. Unfortunately, their manufacturing has been closed and models have been canceled, so we can add them to the history books. Of course, if you won`t buy a used car, be careful and check history of the car beforehand.