We asked our readers earlier this week what automaker is the most irrelevant. The responses were surprising in one of two ways: it was a foreign manufacturer that I didn’t even remember sold cars in the U.S., or it was a domestic make whose best years are behind it. Without further ado, here are the most irrelevant automakers that readers could pull out of their memory banks.
Elio. They are STILL trying to round up orders for their cars. Price is now $14,900, it’s supposed to go 110 mph and go 3 days without charging.
The low-end market is dead. Everyone knows that. A lightly used Bolt is half the price of a new Elio and 4 times the vehicle. And Chevy killed the Bolt because of low sales.
3 wheeled vehicles are what they always have been. A weird thing for weird people. Boomers that are too out of shape to ride a motorcycle, weird English professors with tweed jackets, Guys that co-play Batman on the weekend. They are still impractical on normal roads, if nothing else because the center tires are always sitting on the grease dropped by a couple thousand cars with gasket leaks.
Actually, any manufacturer that isn’t making an SUV that can carry 8, tow, 10,000 lbs and outclimb a mountain goat is likely heading towards problems. As we transition from ICE to EV, there isn’t a huge operational cost difference between an EV version of a Mirage and a Hummer EV. Since EVs should be good at lasting a long time, then the risk of getting more than you need, just in case is low.
We are very much a fractured market today. The Haves can get giant vehicles that can do way more than they ever need and are excellent at showing off their wealth. The Have Nots can buy these excessive vehicles from the Haves and end up with a vehicle that checks every box, for less than a bargain new crapcan. Any manufacturer trying to make a new car for the Have Nots is barking up the wrong tree in today’s market.
Submitted by: hoser68
Plymouth wasn’t irrelevant for most of its existence. The whole idea of the brand was to cater to car buyers who couldn’t afford a Chrysler, Dodge, or a DeSoto. Plymouth was crucial to Chrysler’s survival through the Great Depression.
I still have to get my ‘48 Special DeLuxe running!
Of current automakers, I would say Ram. I know why it was created, but Ram doesn’t even have its own brand image after all of these years. Everyone still just says “Dodge Ram.” Not a single person will shed a tear if Ram is killed and the trucks are sold as Dodge products again.
Of all time? I’m going to go with Sondors Inc, the former creator of the Metacycle. Sondors didn’t deliver on specs, didn’t deliver on price, and if Electrek is correct, didn’t even sell street-legal motorcycles. It just sucked money out of the pockets of EV motorcycle hopefuls.
Submitted by: Mercedes Streeter
Of automakers still selling cars in the US market, my initial thought is Mitsubishi. There were a few years in my career where I ended up at the LA Autoshow every year, and I’ll always remember their sad little booth tucked in a back corner (granted this was like 5+ years ago). I think they may have made some headway with the more recent Outlander models, but still, I feel like they’re generally an afterthought these days.
Submitted by: ItsDeke
Buick.
Buick’s current line-up consists of four CUVs, in sizes Large, medium, small and extra-small, all built on platforms shared with other GM divisions, all four with names starting with ‘En’, and all look pretty similar from 50 feet away, especially in Buick’s grey-scale color pallet.
They don’t even have portholes anymore!
Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I
Lincoln. I don’t remember the last time I heard someone say that they wanted one. I know I once heard someone say a Lincoln Aviator(?) was their dream car a few years ago, and remember thinking, “that’s a sad dream car.”
Submitted by: Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death
Lincoln is hit or miss, they’ll push themselves way upmarket with something good and then aim too high on price or it’ll still be way too much Ford. The Nautilus is a good example, it was a nice upgrade on the Edge but not a true luxury-level car like what it was pitched against. Now it is a seriously nice car this go-round with no Edge to be compared to but it is also priced at a level where it is dealing with some serious two-row premium competition ($50K-$85K). At $50k may can make a case but at $85k some may need some really good convincing to pick one over a Lexus or Mercedes.
Submitted by: CitronC
I’m gonna be controversial.
Rolls-Royce.
I’ve never seen one of their newer ones, not made within the last twenty years, and if someone said they were no longer being made then I’d probably believe them. Like, they exist for classic Rollers for weddings and funerals, and maybe the King of England, but mostly when I see one it is an old Corniche.
Submitted by: skeffles
Chrysler, there’s no reason for this brand to exists anymore. They only have the aging Pacifica that could easily be sold as a Dodge, and that fossil they call the 300 that is probably already out of production.
Submitted by: Margin Of Error
Everybody here is mostly listing American and Japanese labels, and that makes sense - the big 3 US companies spun up way too many brands in their heyday, and several of the big Japanese makers have definitely fallen off. But just for the sake of variety, I want to call out Maserati. They’ve always been this awkward middle child in the bloated Fiat lineup, between Ferrari and Alfa, and they can’t help but have their lunch eaten by both. Do you want a flashy Italian sports coupe? You COULD get a Maserati, but for a little less you can have an Alfa that is just as fast and has more “cool” factor; for a chunk more you can have a Ferrari that’s... a Ferrari. It also doesn’t help that when Alfa dips its toes into full luxury mode they outdo Maserati by miles - Maserati has never bent metal as beautifully as the 8C. And Ferrari even makes cars with functional second rows now; the Purosangue more or less invalidates anything Maserati sells.
I am fully aware that Maseratis cost about two-thirds of what comparable Ferraris cost, but that’s mainly because the insides are made of old Chrysler bits and recycled Chinese newspapers, and here in the States, we pay so much extra for them being fancy imports that a lot of the distinction melts away. Even worse, there are very few bespoke Maserati dealerships in the US - you usually have to buy them from a Ferrari lot, which necessitates that you go to a Ferrari dealer and tell them “Yes, I would like your cheapest, least exciting car that isn’t a used BMW please.” And if you got the used BMW you would be getting a car that was faster, cheaper, nicer, and likely more reliable.
Submitted by: Rayce Archer
Jaguar. Selling 8,000 cars last year, and planning to have no models on the market next year, will anyone other than Waymo notice or care if they are dead or just sleeping?
Submitted by: ConnieHawkinsesHawkConnie
I could vouch for Jag also.
Literally don’t see or know anyone who drives them.
Except for one guy in the past. He was an asshole.
Submitted by: JohnnyB
It makes me sad how true this is. I love the F-Type but it’s hard to argue that it’s still a relevant brand when they decided to just not make cars this year because they lose less money lol.
Submitted by: epochellipse
I’m gonna say Maserati. Who are their vehicles even for? Lets go over the offerings:
Grecale? More like Greyscale, It’s a tiny little thing and for 70K$. Why would you choose that over the nicer-looking and slightly faster X3M for 75K$?
Ghibli? it’s a lovely car...and it’s 30K overpriced. Same with the Quattroporte at 139K, and the GranTurismo at 158K. Why would I choose that over the much more beautiful and cheaper AMG GT/SL twin and get a V8?
Now we get to the gorgeous MC20, I adore that car, it looks even better in person. But now we are out of Mercedes/BMW territory and into the 911 Turbo S, which is faster, cheaper, and probably much more reliable. Then you have the More influential and Halo car offerings from Lamborghini and Ferrari at not much more than what these cars were retailing at dealerships.
Have they won races or broke records at The Ring in recent years? I only see old gen GranTurismos being driven around, I don’t even see any Ghiblis anymore. At the upper scale of wealth, there are just too many better options than a questionable reliability, more expensive Maserati.
Submitted by: darthspartan117
Speaking strictly from a US-centric perspective, I’d have to say Fiat. Although they and parent company Stellantis are internationally huge, they have virtually no presence here and now only offer 2 versions of the 500. Everyone who wanted a 500 bought one years ago and has since moved on, and I can’t imagine anyone out there is buying them new. They’ve lost any and all momentum in this market and might as well not even exist.
Submitted by: Hankel_Wankel
For Americans, I would say any European brand that doesn’t sell directly here.
Let’s pick Opel.
A car with an Opel badge hasn’t sold in the US since the Manta in the 1970s. However, many Americans have purchased and owned Opel cars and never even knew it.
Before it was sold in 2017 to become part of the Dumpster Fire known as Stelantis, it was GM’s go to for making world cars.
Whether you were buying a Vauxhall in the UK, a Holden in Australia, or a Buick in the US, you were possibly purchasing an Opel.
GM badge engineered Opels for everything from Chevy’s to Cadillacs in the US. (The J-body platform, which was largely developed by Opel – was the basis of North American models such as the Chevrolet Cavalier and Cadillac Cimarron.) Last two generations of Buick Regals? Those were Opel Insignias.
But, for the vast majority of Americans, if you showed them the Opel badge, they’d have no idea what it was for.
Submitted by: Knyte