A bit of beige here, a touch of forgotten heritage there, all spiced up with lack of innovation. Welcome to the most boring car makers of 2013.
10.) Peugeot
PSA was doing so badly that they even had to sell their headquarters as well as lay off a lot of their employees. In order to get out of trouble, you have to come up with brilliant products, but it seems like Citroën was the winner of the first round. Peugeot's TT rival RCZ is actually slower than a TT, and the new 208 GTI is not better than other European hot hatches. Peugeot seems to be getting the message, but they need to speed things up a bit.
Suggested By: 472CID, Photo Credit: PSA
9.) Smart
Say what you want, but Smarts used to be cool. Yes, the engines were rubbish and all of them were overpriced, but the ForTwo was funky, quite innovative and indeed very easy to park. The problem is that Smarts are aging, and I don't see any progress apart from it being turned into an electric vehicle, which only makes me go "dah".
Suggested By: Gamecat235, Photo Credit: Smart
8.) Subaru
Subaru used to be the Japanese car maker with the best all-wheel drive system jammed into great quality sedans, wagons and compact SUV like the original Forester. Today, they still have AWD and well built cars, but they also made everything fatter, equipped with CVTs and other tools of the devil. They even managed to soften up the STI, but their new boxer engines and the BRZ tells us their is hope for them.
Suggested By: Sportwagons, haulin' stuff and haulin' balls, Photo Credit: Fuji Heavy Industries
7.) Lotus
Lotus is making exciting sports cars, right?
That's right! The only problem is that they've been doing the same ones for quite some time now, and if they can't come up with new products soon enough, it will be the end of Lotus for sure. I keep my fingers crossed.
Suggested By: SnoopDouggyDougg , Photo Credit: Lotus
6.) Mitsubishi
Remember the times when Mitsubishi made awesome 4x4s and a better WRX STI than Subaru called the Lancer Evo?
Do you know what they are doing now? Investigate, because I have no idea.
Suggested By: Kate's Dirty Sister, Photo Credit: Mitsubishi
5.) Yema Auto (China)
Well, they copy older cars. This Forester/Audi clone is called the "Mustang". That's entertaining for five seconds, then gets really boring.
Suggested By: APleasantDriveInStPetersburg, Photo Credit: Wikipedia
4.) Infiniti
Infiniti still seems a little confused, with cars that don't have their own character. Maybe naming all of them Q will help that situation. At least we can hope.
Suggested By: The Scrambler says it can be done, Photo Credit: Infiniti
3.) Lincoln
Ah, Lincoln. You've been lost so long and we want you to be good. But right now there is absolutely nothing proprietary in your lineup. MKZ? That's a Fusion. MKS? That's a Taurus. MKT? That's a Flex. Slightly fancier Fords with a strange nose do not an exciting car make.
Suggested By: HammerheadFistpunch, Photo Credit: Lincoln
2.) Lada
We will see what Renault-Nissan can turn Lada into (hint: the next Dacia), but in the last two decades, progress was slower around AvtoVAZ than under Soviet Russia. Putin seems to be satisfied with the Granta, but don't let that fool you.
Suggested By: Super Kiwi Zorro, Photo Credit: AvtoVAZ
1.) Honda
The power of dreams, right? They say Soichiro Honda used to shout at employes all the time until the products were perfect. It's a shame he passed away in 1991.
Hondas of today are as boring as a cardboard box, not to mention poor Acura. Come on Honda, be what you used to be. Be awesome.
Suggested By: Gamecat235, Photo Credit: Honda
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: Lincoln