Here are the new vehicles you will no longer be able to purchase next year. Ready?

Acura ZDX: This century's Pontiac Aztek.

Cadillac Escalade XLT: It appears more folks have realized buying a $65K giant gas guzzling gadget gorged pickup with a bed smaller than a Subaru Brat is kinda dumb.

Nissan Altima Coupe: we knew this was coming as Nissan spent pretty much nothing on it after its intro. But fear not!! Mssrs Ghosn and Palmer are still excretin...er manufacturing the Murano Cross Cabriolet for the Alti coupe buyers, After all, their whizbang marketing folks' probably think the two models share similar demographics.

Toyota Matrix. Mildly surprised Toyota dumped it instead of updating it. But like the movie by the same name I would expect a sequel soon to come out to cash in on the industry's current CUV infatuation.

VW Routon: a Chrysler rebadged as a VW. So I guess it falls apart at 60K while making you a slave to the dealer? And they wonder why it didn't sell?

Volvo C30. this one surprised me as it seemed promising. A sporty Volvo, Unfortunately in recent years, the term "enthusiast Volvo" buyer seems to have become an oxymoron.

Volvo C70 . not surprising. It inspired yawns instead of ooo's and aah's . And if you're gonna sell a boring transportation device, it needed to be cheaper.

thoughts? Comments?

Escalade EXT was awesome. You had Cadillac leather and comfort, SUV refinement and ride quality, and a convertible bed you could extend into the cabin.

C70 was visually stunning but needed livelier steering and handling. C30 was too expensive for its class.


Surprised the Matrix is going away. Maybe that's because of the dissolution of NUMMI and the end of Pontiac taking away scale advantages.

Bubba1 wrote:
VW Routon: a Chrysler rebadged as a VW. So I guess it falls apart at 60K while making you a slave to the dealer? And they wonder why it didn't sell?

Sounds like a VW! Should have fit in nicely.

Bubba1 wrote:Nissan Altima Coupe: we knew this was coming as Nissan spent pretty much nothing on it after its intro. But fear not!! Mssrs Ghosn and Palmer are still excretin...er manufacturing the Murano Cross Cabriolet for the Alti coupe buyers, After all, their whizbang marketing folks' probably think the two models share similar demographics.

But they do.

WTF WHY?

100% donk!

what is it with people of "color" and altimas.... s*** DOPE SON, WORD

Idk, but theres that crap around here. Big $5k+ rims are so f***ing ugly.

Was hoping to cross the VW Beetle off that list too. Id like to see the Touareg be gone as well. Fast, but what an awful machine of invincible regular maintenance powers. I hate VWs so much..

Wait wait wait.

You mean to tell me 5 people bought Murano convertibles?! Gotta be a record! POP THE CHAMPAGNE, NISSAN!

I just puked all over myself.

Haha, is it weird I'd rather drive a donk'd Murano convertible than a stock one?

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:Haha, is it weird I'd rather drive a donk'd Murano convertible than a stock one?

yup.....(j/k)

The worst part about those donks is that none of them modified the fenders. There must be GOBS of wheel gap in the stock configuration.

EDIT:
Yes there is...

Dear God, where is the bleach

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:Haha, is it weird I'd rather drive a donk'd Murano convertible than a stock one?

YES. Why in the bloody hell would you want to draw MORE attention to yourself?

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:Haha, is it weird I'd rather drive a donk'd Murano convertible than a stock one?

Me. Too as long as the horn played Dixie

The wheels actually distract from the rest of the car. I think it's an improvement (kind of like trying to sell a piece of poop because it doesn't smell as bad as brand y's poop)

I like the C30. I'd rock one 5speed, if I found one worth buying. I liked the interior. Also whats not to like about the T5?

breadbox wrote:I like the C30. I'd rock one 5speed, if I found one worth buying. I liked the interior. Also whats not to like about the T5?

I really enjoyed the one I drove and came very close to buying it. I was all set to do the deal one evening and thought- wait, I need to bring my skis to see if they fit in the car since this vehicles sole purpose is winter driving. They didn't.
Its okay, Subaru is a better winter storm chaser anyway.

What about Mitsubishi exiting the US market? As one columnist put it "The company is in ­cardiac arrest while almost everybody else is running four-minute miles again."

With only 3 percent of the U.S. market, Mitsubishi plans to kill its current lineup of U.S.-made vehicles, over the next three years and switch to producing global vehicles at its Illinois plant, partly to target export markets.

I'm surprised they have as much as 3%. VW has hovered around 2% in the US for decades.

Mitsu has displayed a recent gasp of life thanks to the Outlander Sport. The new Mirage hatchback seems like an eager little puppy that's received unusually positive reviews. When I say positive, I mean positive for a basic economy car with no sporting intentions, praised typically for being an uncomplicated, fuel-sipping bargain built to an acceptable standard. It's like the original Suzuki-built Geo Metro with modern safety compliance. The problem is that you can buy a much nicer used car for the same money and still have factory or aftermarket warranty coverage.

And they no longer offer a midsize sedan.

I often forget that I spent 6,000 miles in a 2007 (2008?) Galant. We drove it from Washington to Iowa and back and can barely remember a darn thing about it. It isn't often that a car is so flavorless that it draws no opinions. I don't remember being unhappy with the power or handling or styling, nor do I remember it doing anything particularly well. I think fuel economy was acceptable for the size and the AC worked, though I don't recall how effectively. And the interior? Well, it had chairs and buttons and knobs, and I remember using my iPod with the sound system but have no recollection of how good or bad it sounded. It certainly made some noises.

I think it was red? I'm pretty sure the interior was black, possibly grey... no... definitely black cloth. I do remember listening to a lot of the Evita soundtrack on my friend's iPod which he put on repeat.

It wouldn't be fair to call the Galant as plain as a glass of water since water can be quite refreshing. No, the Galant is a Christian adult contemporary album and not one that's been nominated for any Dove awards. With the exception of the Evo, that sums up the entire Mitsubishi brand. It's small but not serving a niche like Mazda, Saab (now back in production, building cars for China), Lotus, or Volvo. It offers mass market products with zero mass market appeal.

They even build their cars at a rural Illinois plant located in a town called Normal! How bland can you get?

I'm extending my analogy -- the Mitsubishi brand is a Christian music label. The Lancer, Mirage, and Galant are slow-selling albums about Jesus that you might hear at a Rick Santorum rally.

Jesda wrote:
They even build their cars at a rural Illinois plant located in a town called Normal! How bland can you get?

Toyota could really learn a lesson from this. At least Mitsubishi makes bland cars that you don't remember, versus a car that erodes your soul away like acid reflux does after Mexican food.

I wish more people made I5's, I love the way the Volvo's sound!

Jesda wrote:
I'm extending my analogy -- the Mitsubishi brand is a Christian music label. The Lancer, Mirage, and Galant are slow-selling albums about Jesus that you might hear at a Rick Santorum rally.