Automakers discontinue models every year, but some true icons of the industry are departing in 2023.
From sports cars to electrics, here are eight high profile vehicles that are heading to that great big parking lot in the sky.
Audi TT
Audi’s two-seat sports car helped usher in the turn of the century’s retro-modern craze alongside the reborn Volkswagen Beetle, but it outlasted the little bugger by four years. Three generations of TT coupes and convertibles have been built, but dwindling sales of late meant it was time to send the TT into the history books with the cars that inspired it.
Chevrolet Bolt/Bolt EUV
The Chevrolet Bolt beat the Tesla Model 3 to market by a few months when it launched in 2016, but it eventually got left in the dust by its electric rival.
Chevy’s subcompact EV was joined by the larger Bolt EUV in 2021, just before they were all recalled due to a battery fire issue that also halted deliveries of new vehicles for a few months. They proved to be comeback kids, however, and saw rising sales upon their return. When GM announced it was pulling the plug on the Bolts to focus on its newest electric vehicles, the negative response was so strong that it backtracked and said there would be a new Bolt … but not until 2025.
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro technically made it to the 2024 model year, but the last one drove off the assembly line on December 14. This marks the second time since the original debuted in 1967 that Chevrolet has put the name on the shelf. It previously took a break from 2003 to 2009, but triumphantly returned in 2010 to outsell the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, thanks to the Transformers film franchise, which featured the Camaro-based Bumblebee character.
The arrival of the sixth-generation Camaro in 2016 was less successful and it has dropped to the back of the pony car pack, with even the more expensive Chevrolet Corvette outselling it in recent years.
Chrysler 300
The Bentley on a budget Chrysler 300 has been the brand’s flagship model since 2004. Its bold look was based on Chryslers from the 1950s and 1960s and helped it stand out among affordable luxury cars. More than 1.4 million have been sold since, but Chrysler is aiming to become an all-electric make by 2028 and the V6 and V8-powered relic doesn’t fit in with those plans. No immediate successor has been announced, which leaves only the Pacifica minivan to carry the Chrysler name into next year.
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is a true living legend. The throwback sports car first went on sale in 2008 and its style hasn’t changed much since. It has seen plenty of upgrades along the way, though, and recently set a record that may never be broken. The final version introduced was the Challenger SRT Demon 170, which has a 900 hp supercharged V8 that makes it the most powerful American muscle car ever. If there were any doubt, a tank of E85 boosts that to 1,025 hp.
The Challenger name its going away, but Dodge is replacing it with an all-electric two-door previewed by the Charger Daytona SRT Concept, which has a synthetic exhaust and fake gear shifts to make it sound and feel more like a classic muscle machine.
Dodge Charger
The Charger is essentially the four-door version of the Challenger and its discontinuation marks the end of something even bigger than itself: the American police car. The Charger was the last sedan offered in a police pursuit model, as Ford and GM dropped out of the segment several years ago. That leaves SUVs and pickups to fill your rearview mirrors, which should be easier to see coming.
Jeep Cherokee
Hoping to leverage the popularity of its Grand Cherokee SUV, Jeep revived the Cherokee name on a compact SUV in 2014 that featured radical styling for the time. Its unusual split headlight design received plenty of attention, but was toned-down with a more conventional look during a 2019 refresh.
Sales have fallen off a cliff in the years since, which was surely a coincidence, right? Jeeps usually climb them.
Discussion about this post