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The Death List: What Cars Aren't Coming Back For 2013?

By Kurt Ernst
Kurt Ernst Kurt Ernst
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Kurt has been fascinated by anything with wheels and a motor for a long time. Growing up, he spent his spare time turning wrenches and pumping gas in... More

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19 84,128 views May 18, 2012

2011 Lexus HS 250h

2011 Lexus HS 250h

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The only thing truly constant, it’s said, is change. With the possible exceptions of the Porsche 911 and every model built by the Morgan Motor Company, nowhere is this adage more true than in the automotive industry.

We said goodbye to a fair number of cars in 2012, including some that were one-time favorites and others that, frankly, we’re glad to see go. Some went out with a flourish, while others simple went gently into that good night of automotive oblivion.

Below is an obituary for 14 models that will be signing off in 2012 or 2013. Bow your head respectfully, and read on.

2012 Ford Escape Hybrid

2012 Ford Escape Hybrid

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Ford Escape Hybrid: If ever there was an automotive “Little Engine That Could,” it was the Ford Escape Hybrid. Doubt that hybrids can be as reliable as conventionally powered cars? Tell that to the thousands of trouble-free Escape Hybrids that plowed the streets of New York City as yellow cabs, delivering fuel economy up to 34 mpg. While the 2013 Escape promises to be better in every way (except city fuel economy), it’s got some big shoes to fill.


2011 Lexus HS 250h

2011 Lexus HS 250h

Enlarge Photo
Lexus HS 250h: We’re still not sure if re-bodying a Prius, upping the luxury content and adding $13k to the sticker was sheer genius or pure desperation on Lexus’ part, but consumers voted with their wallets when the more affordable Lexus CT 200h hybrid was released. Sales of the HS 250h fell off a cliff in 2011, and they’re looking even worse in 2012. We’re not surprised that Lexus pulled the plug without so much as a simple goodbye.

 


2012 Mercedes-Benz R Class

2012 Mercedes-Benz R Class

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Mercedes-Benz R-Class: Not quite a minivan and not really an SUV, Mercedes-Benz’s large crossoverish R-Class never caught on with U.S. customers. The odd styling and ambitious price tag certainly didn’t help, and U.S. dealer moved just 178 units in the first two months of 2012. If you’re a fan of the R-Class, fear not: it lives on in Canada and in China, where customers can’t get enough of the plus-sized-crossover.


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Comments (19)

  1. fb_580773522 avatar Myles Miller Posted: 5/19/2012 8:32am PDT

    okay Saab going under was not GMs fault. Get your facts straight! Saab should have gone under years ago. GM was making bank and bought the company to save it. Yes GM could have done more with the company but money can only be spread so far between all the brands they had.
     
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  2. fb_1491948054 avatar Kurt Ernst Posted: 5/19/2012 10:42am PDT

    @Myles, there's nothing wrong with my facts. Saab had several Chinese investors lined up until GM flexed its preferred-stock muscles and said no, blaming it on a conflict of interest with its existing Chinese partners.

    Look at a Saab 9-5 and you'll see why: it's a parts-bin GM car that can't easily be re-engineered to use other components. Ditto for the 9-4X.

    To your point, Saab didn't die under GM's ownership, however, GM was the company that stepped in and eliminated Saab's chance at a future. I stand by my facts.
     
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  3. fb_1618780262 avatar Wallace Smith Posted: 5/24/2012 11:57pm PDT

    YES! Another inheirited money machine that let it's wrath be known! Funny too! The "parents" struggled there after. Big guns with $ at the time, ruling and bossing everything in sight! Typical of those blow hards! Most had to sell the family farm to survive in their old age! Too stupid and sluggish of mind to update, modernize, and look after their "future" offspring. Another story of BAD CHOICES!
     
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  4. fb_1185084391 avatar Joe Bresloff Posted: 5/25/2012 8:00am PDT

    Actually, Myles is correct. Even though SAAB was using stuff from the GM parts bin, they altered the vehicles so much from the platform design that they were losing money on every car. GM provided Vauxhall chassis and requested SAAB use them, SAAB agreed and went about it's own way. SAAB was doomed before GN ever got involved.
     
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  5. crtx avatar crtx Posted: 5/25/2012 8:33am PDT

    I agree with Myles. I still own a SAAB, this is number 5 a 2007 Aero convertible that is more GM than Trollhatten. Its the best one ever, far superior to the electrical plauged problem 2003 and the 1998. SAAB was in trouble long before GM came along and they tried hard to save it.
     
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  6. fb_509157168 avatar Justin Calderon Posted: 5/25/2012 10:02am PDT

    that's too true dude u r so right GM tried to save them but had other brands they had to keep like Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC
     
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  7. fb_100000432296831 avatar fb_100000432296831 Posted: 5/19/2012 3:45pm PDT

    You forgot the VOLT...GM's laughable answer to the economy problem. Buy a VOLT and get tons of extra problems down the road...buy the legend now, you can re-badge it EDSEL.
     
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  8. Ernst avatar Kurt Ernst Posted: 5/20/2012 5:04am PDT

    @Ow, the Volt isn't going away, and that's a good thing.

    I'm sure your anti-Volt opinion is based on personal experience, right? Not just the anti-GM rantings of the right-wing-fringe wackos in mainstream media?

    Because, oddly, I've racked up thousands of miles behind the wheel of various Volts, all of which have been trouble free. As the first series hybrid vehicle produced by a mainstream automaker, history will see the Volt in a much different light than you do.
     
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  9. fb_509157168 avatar Justin Calderon Posted: 5/25/2012 10:05am PDT

    Kurt where do u work at? r u only getting ur facts from newspapers, radio, TV, news, and internet and/or phone? Its more complex and deeper when you actually work for the company itself.
     
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  10. Ernst avatar Kurt Ernst Posted: 5/25/2012 5:39pm PDT

    @Justin, I write about cars for a living. I get my facts from driving the cars I write about, including a drive in the Chevy Volt (prior to its release) from New York City to Detroit.

    Do you work for GM? I'm just curious because you appear to be questioning my experience with the Volt.
     
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  11. fb_100000351085371 avatar Richard Joash Tan Posted: 6/6/2012 1:19am PDT

    you are a troll, because you should be banned form facebook and beyond
     
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  12. fb_1590102945 avatar Matthew Beall Posted: 5/25/2012 6:04am PDT

    SAAB was a solid car with alot of brand recognition which is why GM bought it in the first place. being such a small company, they were an easy target for GM. I am so sad to see SAAB go, I will never buy a gm product forever more because of my perception of them as huge monster that eats its young
     
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  13. fb_1584225648 avatar Dan Ottin Posted: 5/25/2012 10:45am PDT

    Buy yourself a Honda Pilot. You will have 5 worry free years of driving. If you take good care of it and change oil every 5,000 miles, there's no reason why it will not last headache free for another 5 years.

    The used car buyer would still be able to enjoy his investment. It is a fact.
     
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  14. fb_100001000932837 avatar Kenneth Sloan Posted: 5/25/2012 12:05pm PDT

    I never owned one, but I'll miss SAAB (sob!)
     
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  15. fb_100001000932837 avatar Kenneth Sloan Posted: 5/25/2012 12:07pm PDT

    Am looking for a good second-hand car. Am considering the following models, a 2007 Ford Focus, a 2007 Suzuki Forenza? Which should I buy?
     
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  16. arifepa avatar m s Posted: 5/26/2012 2:24pm PDT

    Kurt, the Sonic is NOT built on the old Aveo platform. It's the GammaII platform.
     
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  17. arifepa avatar m s Posted: 5/26/2012 2:40pm PDT

    That should say Gamma II. :)
     
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  18. fb_1491948054 avatar Kurt Ernst Posted: 5/29/2012 3:52am PDT

    @ms, mea culpa - the Sonic is indeed built on the Gamma II platform, which is not the same as the last Aveo used.
     
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