The Year's Worst-Selling Cars

[big dog cowboy]

The Year's Worst-Selling Cars

After bottoming out in 2009, auto industry sales are slowly recovering. The U.S. will sell about 11.5 million cars and light trucks this year, up from 10.4 million in 2009. And the news only gets better: IHS Automotive forecasts sales of 12.8 million vehicles in 2011, and 17.1 million by 2015.

Total light vehicle sales are up 11.1% through November, with many brands beating the trend and gaining market share: Buick is up 53.5%, Cadillac is up 38%, Infiniti is up 26% and Ford, Hyundai and Jeep are each up 23%.

But while most carmakers are enjoying gains from last year's dismal sales levels, the bounce is not universal. Some models are just languishing on dealer lots, victims of outdated designs, lack of marketing support and intense competition.

Smart ForTwoForbes studied industry sales figures through November to cull a list of the year's worst-selling vehicles. We tossed out brands like Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer that are being killed, and didn't count vehicles that are being discontinued like the Chrysler PT Cruiser or Kia Rondo. We also excluded cars that we know are in the midst of a model life cycle change because sales typically fall as automakers are trying to clear out the old design before ramping up production of the new one.

Read more: http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1629/the-years-worst-selling-cars

[CliffnMesquite]

I saw a F-150 chase down and eat a Smart car on LBJ just the other day! :eek:

[SaltwaterServr]

I saw a F-150 chase down and eat a Smart car on LBJ just the other day! :eek:

Think I saw a F350 take a dump that was a Smart car. Those things are such a joke. My boss raved about them and was thinking about buying one this year. I explained to him that it was a Sprite can on wheels and what would happen to it if he ever got rear ended in traffic. "oh but it's got all of these safety features".

Yeah? Really? Ya know the one thing it doesn't have? MASS. Force = Mass x acceleration.

F350 + impact @ 45mph + Smart Car + Vehicle in front of you = DRT. Dead Right There.

[CliffnMesquite]

Think I saw a F350 take a dump that was a Smart car. Those things are such a joke. My boss raved about them and was thinking about buying one this year. I explained to him that it was a Sprite can on wheels and what would happen to it if he ever got rear ended in traffic. "oh but it's got all of these safety features".

Yeah? Really? Ya know the one thing it doesn't have? MASS. Force = Mass x acceleration.

F350 + impact @ 45mph + Smart Car + Vehicle in front of you = DRT. Dead Right There.

I see them around here all the time. Rolling death traps.

[tomson75]

I see them around here all the time. Rolling death traps.

I can vouch for this.....I wouldn't let anyone I cared about drive one of those things. I'd rather they be on a motorcycle....

[63echo]

Think I saw a F350 take a dump that was a Smart car. Those things are such a joke. My boss raved about them and was thinking about buying one this year. I explained to him that it was a Sprite can on wheels and what would happen to it if he ever got rear ended in traffic. "oh but it's got all of these safety features".

Yeah? Really? Ya know the one thing it doesn't have? MASS. Force = Mass x acceleration.

F350 + impact @ 45mph + Smart Car + Vehicle in front of you = DRT. Dead Right There.

:laugh2:

I've often wondered how those fare in collision tests. I'm gonna have to do some research (hello Wiki!).

An aside: per the article, I didn't know Saturn was dead. I never owned one, but it seemed like they were on the right track for awhile there. Leave it to GM to torque things up...

[Yeagermeister]

One of the Grizzlies players bought a smart car. He's 7'2. :laugh2:

http://hoopeduponline.com/2009/11/04/hamed-haddadi-got-a-really-tiny-new-car/

[rynochop]

:laugh2:

I've often wondered how those fare in collision tests. I'm gonna have to do some research (hello Wiki!).

An aside: per the article, I didn't know Saturn was dead. I never owned one, but it seemed like they were on the right track for awhile there. Leave it to GM to torque things up...

I had one, great car. Put almost 250k miles on it. I think I put a starter in it, about the only mechanical issue I had.

[theogt]

Smarts cars don't make sense unless it's an urban area.

Just the same way that F-150s do NOT make sense in an urban area. Nothing is more annoying than some jacked up F-150 trying to make its way through a parking garage.

[VietCowboy]

Smarts cars don't make sense unless it's an urban area.

Just the same way that F-150s do NOT make sense in an urban area. Nothing is more annoying than some jacked up F-150 trying to make its way through a parking garage.

and yet, you still see tons of people driving around in their hummer. ugh.

[ScipioCowboy]

and yet, you still see tons of people driving around in their hummer. ugh.

I take issue with SUVs. Needless to say, my feelings about hummers are even more negative.

My wife and I just bought a MINI.

[TheCount]

If you live in a crowded city like Manhattan, a smart car is a wise purchase.

[MonsterD]

Hummers are gonna be extinct soon anyway. As for smart cars they never really got great gas mileage the new mid sized cars from Honda or Hyundai got almost the same mileage. Smart cars were expensive for what you got 16K for that thing. And a lot of people were scared of the safety, but it had to be tested and approved to be on the US roads so, who knows.

[CliffnMesquite]

"but it had to be tested and approved to be on the US roads so, who knows"

So was the Pinto. ;)

[VietCowboy]

I take issue with SUVs. Needless to say, my feelings about hummers are even more negative.

My wife and I just bought a MINI.

nice I was one of the first to get the 2009 Honda Fit. I was hawking it since March 2008. I still love it to this day, love the extra room when I lower the back seats.

[Heisenberg]

The fact I'm moving to Seattle and will be driving around in my F150 makes me a bit of a sad panda. I need to sell this thing and get something smaller with better gas mileage.