It is very important that automakers experiment with new trends and formulas in all aspects of automotive business, but unfortunately, that carries a certain amount of risk. Consider, if you will, the case of the cosmetically challenged Pontiac Aztec, the go-to scapegoat for all that is wrong in automotive design. Or the Cadillac 8-6-4 autos.aol.comengine, an engineering marvel that was well ahead of its time but proved to be an absolute headache for consumers once it was executed.
There are cases in which the performance of a unit once it’s on the market determines its success or failure. However, there are other cases in which you just know the autos.aol.comvehicle in question is doomed from the get-go. We set out to find some of those
However, this is just a quick rundown — if you have any thoughts or suggestions, leave them down in the comments below.
1. Lincoln Blackwood
The Lincoln (NYSE:F) Navigator was a very popular car, so a Navigator with truck-like utility would do even better, right? Nope. The Lincoln Blackwood stumbled through its one model year of life (that would be 2002) before it was thankfully euthanized after a sales pace that snails would deem as slow.
Only 3,356 Blackwoods were made — most of them ended up being sold well below MSRP just so Lincoln could get them off the lots.
Power came from Ford’s 5.4 liter V8, but that couldn’t save the truck from completely missing both its target demographics – on a Venn diagram of luxury autos.aol.comshoppers and pickup enthusiasts, the two circles couldn’t be farther apart.
Throw in a price tag of $52,000 (in 2002 no less; that’s equal to $68,525 today) and you’ve got a complete recipe for a certified non-seller. Interestingly, the pickup segment is starting to gravitate toward the luxury field more these days. Was the Blackwood just too early for its own good?
2. Cadillac XLR
Lincoln started us off, but General Motors (NYSE:GM) appears to have had a lot of difficulties over the year, especially with its Cadillac brand. Case in point, the XLR. It was a great car in many aspects: comfortable, powerful, and good looking.
However, there were two distinct issues that would keep it from gaining widespread success — its relation to the Corvette, on which it was based, and its price. The XLR didn’t offer more in the way of performance while charging a significant amount more for the privilege of driving a Caddy badge.
Between 2003 and 2011, fewer than 16,000 XLRs were made. Part of the appeal of the Corvette is that it offers tremendous power and performance for far less money than its rivals, and by offering virtually the same car with a nicer interior, part of that appeal is taken away. Was it fun to drive? Yes, of course. Comfortable and well appointed? Absolutely.
Worth the $30,000 premium over the well-established ‘Vette? Apparently not. This is a lesson that Cadillac has been slow to learn — it’s currently grappling with a similar situation with its ELR and its close relations to the Chevy Volt.
3. Chevrolet SSR
The thinking behind the SSR was logical: Take the character and the beloved nature of hot rods and translate it into a new car. In practice, though, things didn’t turn out so well. The end result was a high-performance convertible pickup truck that took genre-bending a bit too far. At the end of the day, 24,150 SSRs were produced over its two-year life span.
So what went wrong? Well, it was in essence a show car and a show car alone. It had the bed, yeah, but virtually no other redeeming truck qualities (save for the V8), like stiffened suspension or anything that would make it useful for work. People looking for a convertible had dozens of better options to choose from, as the SSR’s unique format came to the detriment of handling in the way you’d think a sports car/convertible would.
The market for the SSR was small to begin with and made substantially smaller by its $42,000 (about $51,000 in today’s dollars) asking price. It was mercifully put down after the 2006 model year.
4. Volkswagen Phaeton
In principle, the Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK) Phaeton was a good idea: If there’s one thing Germany does well, it’s large and luxurious sedans. The car was a fantastic piece of engineering, right up until they slapped a VW badge on the front, sealing its place in history as a car that would always struggle to get off the ground before finally conceding, at least in the U.S. See, the Phaeton, in its higher-end trims, could cost upwards of $85,000, and even flirt with six figures. Yet it wore the same badging as the sub-$20,000 Golf.
As an Audi, it would have been a magnificent car. But thanks to VW’s far-reaching ambitions, the Phaeton only sold 1,433 units in 2004 when it debuted in America, and only 820 the following year.
Now, used models suffer from unprecedented depreciation despite offering powerplants like the W12 that’s still found in high-end Audi A8s. It was a luxury car spoiled by its economy car badge, and badge alone — had it been rebranded, we’d probably still be seeing the vehicles made today.
5. Cadillac Cimarron
We feel bad berating Cadillac so much (we were tempted to include the ELR, but it’s a bit early to call that one), but truthfully, the company has made it pretty easy. In the early ’80s, companies like BMW and Mercedes-Benz were hitting their strides, offering superb cars for the time that balanced power, refinement, and driving dynamics. These cars formed the foundation on which today’s luxury car behemoths are built, and Cadillac responded with … this.
The Cimarron has long been a target of automotive scorn. There was really nothing Cadillac about it save for the badges, because it was essentially a Chevrolet Cavalier in a new suit. No, not even a new suit — it barely changed its tie. General Motors was honestly trying to pass off a Chevy Cavalier as a Caddy.
And while BMW and the Germans were pushing the envelope in every way, GM was hoping to appeal to somebody with a four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive badge-engineered attempt at luxury. The redeeming feature is that the Cavalier was a pretty decent car, but it made a pretty crappy Cadillac.
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