All The Cars That Died In 2020

The 4C Coupe is already dead but the Spider held on until 2020. No more. I think the Alfa 4C is a delightful little sportscar that deserved more attention than it ultimately got. Yet, few buyers took up the opportunity.

The Dodge Journey’s...journey, ended in 2020. The utilitarian crossover survived an impressive 12 years before getting the axe. It sold well through that time, likely justifying its existence right to the end. I appreciate the Journey. While it’s not a vehicle I would own, it did offer three rows of seating for a rock bottom price.

This Dodge has been holding on for even longer than the Journey. The fifth-generation Grand Caravan reached its 13th year of production in 2020. Then Dodge sent it to live on a farm upstate. A Dodge Grand Caravan offered a reasonably well-appointed and cheap way for families to cart around children. The van was a favorite choice for fleets as well. Its succeeded by the curvy Chrysler Pacifica and Chrysler Voyager twins.

The Jaguar XE is the marque’s sports sedan. We thought it was an original take on the formula, even though it was slower than the competition. This sold slow before getting the axe.

It’s always a funeral when a wagon dies, and the Jaguar XF now just another fun wagon we’ll no longer get to enjoy. As wagons struggle to sell, the loss of this Jag is painful but unsurprising. We need to buy more wagons!

The Chevrolet Sonic was previewed by the flashy Aveo RS concept. When the production car was announced, the name had been changed to Sonic. It was launched — literally — with a barrel roll.

This car was Chevy’s effort to show the world it can still build cars for the youths. We said the RS version wasn’t bad. The Sonic’s exit makes room at GM’s Orion Township factory to produce a more crossover-y version of the all-electric Bolt and a refreshed version of the regular Bolt.

The Chevrolet Impala name has lived, died, then lived again. While the Impala is once again on its way out, a victim of GM’s own sedanmageddon, I somehow doubt this will be the last time we see it. If Chevy is willing to bring back the Blazer as a crossover, I have no doubt the Impala nameplate could see a similar fate in the future. I’ve road-tripped one of these and I agree with our review, it’s a pretty neat car.

When the 2022 Civic launches, the famous nameplate will do so without a coupe variant. As is the case with many cars on this list, Honda cites low sales for the decision. At least a hatch and the Si will reportedly make their way to the new generation.

Hyundai has decided to off the Elantra GT hatch. It seems those who did buy them love the little things. I think they’re quite handsome and I’m sad to see the list of hatchbacks in America get a little smaller.

Speaking of hatchbacks, the fan favorite of subcompact cars in America is also retiring. The Honda Fit, with its superb design, has outlasted other subcompacts like the Scion iQ, Smart Fortwo, Scion xD, Toyota Prius C, Mazda 2 and Fiat 500. This leaves Americans with choices like the Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage to fill the subcompact role.

The Mazda 2 was technically still available in America as the Toyota Yaris. However, it didn’t make it out of 2020 alive. Toyota has no plans to fill the hole left by the little car’s absence.

The last holdout from Ford’s carpocalypse ended production back in August. Many car enthusiasts cracked jokes about its discount Aston Martin-style grille, but it’s still unfortunate to see another decent sedan go. If the stylish Ford interests you, the remaining 11,000 are sitting on dealer lots and Ford is offering some good deals.

The Lincoln Continental was the sleek luxury sedan Lincoln should have made a couple decades ago. We felt the rebirthed Conti to be cool, but it couldn’t carve out enough market share to justify its continued existence. It’s a shame because Continental still has presence wherever it’s parked. It’s the first modern Lincoln I actually wanted to own.

The Lincoln MKZ hearkens back to a time when Lincoln tried naming its cars using a can of alphabet soup. We weren’t sure if the MKZ was worth the coin given that it was essentially an upscale Fusion and it looks like buyers felt similarly. The MKZ had its best sales year in 2007.

 GM ordered the CT6 gone way back in 2018, but they continued to sell just long enough to make it into 2020. Sales lagged far behind larger stablemates like the Escalade. At least the Blackwing V8 found a home in it.

The Lexus GS is another sedan that hit its peak years ago. Lexus reportedly wanted to kill the GS for a long while, only keeping it around because certain Lexus execs insisted on it. Lexus announced the death of the GS series not long after announcing the GS350 F Sport, citing — you guessed it — slow sales.

This one isn’t so much a victim of our crossover overlords, but maybe the horsepower wars? The Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R were a fun pair with mean performance and an even meaner soundtrack. It’s a car that won the hearts of many, but ultimately Ford decided to shift its focus towards the Mustang Shelby GT500.

This is a car so forgettable I almost forgot to add it to this list. It was a successor to the RL, itself the successor to the Legend. Anything legendary had been diluted over the years and Acura sold alarmingly few examples.

The BMW i8 was a quirky sportscar thing. It has a striking appearance, an interesting hybrid powertrain, and looks straight out of the future. It was one of the only 2+2 midship coupes on the market, too! However, the cost to own such one was quite a high price for the performance you got. It’s not yet known what will replace it.

The Mercedes-Benz SLC — formerly SLK — roadster was one of the last roadster holdouts, but even it isn’t sticking around. This decision was actually made a few years ago, but Mercedes committed to keeping it around until the end of its cycle. Fun fact: The SLC was Mercedes-Benz’s last car to have a manual transmission as an option. The death of the SLC is truly the end of an era.

Honestly, I wasn’t even aware this car was still being offered for sale in America. But Fiat reminded us it still exists by killing it. Reception to the 500L was mixed, even in reviews published here. To call the 500L polarizing would be an understatement.

The tiny little 500 actually outsold the 500L crossover. Not great!

Fiat’s 124 and 500L slid onto this list at the very last possible second, like movie heros making it though a sliver in a closing door...and into an industrial shredder.

Yes, this year also took the Fiata down. The car was loved by many readers and offered a sense of Italian drama paired with Japanese quality. It was even faster than the MX-5 Miata it’s based on. But all good things come to an end and the sun has set on the Fiata.

That’s it! This year managed to take 22 cars from us. Many were obviously nearing the end, and I’m sure many of you won’t even remember they existed, but a few beloved cars also met their demise. Will the craze for crossovers and SUVs ever end?