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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 Some models are just languishing on dealer lots, victims of outdated designs, lack of marketing support and intense competition.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
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 Some models are just languishing on dealer lots, victims of outdated designs, lack of marketing support and intense competition.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
