Automotive failures are weird. The process of designing, building and selling cars is enormously complex, and it’s incredibly uncommon that any outcome is the product of a single decision. BUT! There are some examples of absolutely catastrophic decisions, screw-ups so bad that they ended careers.
That’s what we’re looking for today! Take the Buick Cascada, Buick’s sad attempt to be one of the cool kids. It was sold as an Opel around Europe and tried so hard. It should have been a winner, a four-seat convertible with 200 horsepower and 20-inch wheels standard. But have you ever see a car that was pretty much made of “Meh”? Not even exciting taillights could make our own Jason Torchinsky care about the Cascada.
Reviews of its handling and driving prowess were not good either. I’m not sure if the Cascada ended any careers in its six-year run, but it probably should have. There are tons of bad business decisions automakers make that are truly baffling to us. What are some of your favorites?