R&T: great cars that did NOT sell in 2018

[JB]

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...nobody-bought/

[ltomn]

That is a surprising conglomeration of vehicles to sell so few of. Is it so simple as models are way too owner specific, expensive for what they are or is it the metrics of the new population of drivers? Whatever it is, it's a wake up call.

[John]

Thanks Busa Dave. I love learning new things and had to look up NRE. For others who needed help on that one, thanks to Wiki:

Non-recurring engineering (NRE) refers to the one-time cost to research, design, develop and test a new product or product enhancement. When budgeting for a new product, NRE must be considered to analyze if a new product will be profitable. ... It is a form of fixed cost in economics terms

[Fireeagle]

It was pretty easy to tell that price was probably a major factor on over half of these.

[Fireeagle]

Thanks JB. Looking at this link brought me to the next gallery which was top V8 vehicles on the market and the ZR1 was listed. It then had a link to one for sale on e-bay (that ended) but the pics were still available of a gorgeous white ZR1.. almost exactly if I had spec'd it out for what I would want except for the large wing. Gotta stop thinking about the ZR1.

[meyerweb]

Most of those don't surprise me. Sports cars typically sell on low volumes. Really expensive cars typically sell in low volumes. And few people these days are going to look at Volvo's station wagon over a Volvo SUV. And big sedans like the Lincoln have been overtaken by big SUVs.

I'm a little surprised about the GTI. It's a real fun drive, and VW has upgraded the electronics, lighting, and other features over the years to keep it pretty current. My son researched the cars in that class, test drove several, and chose the VW over the competition.

[Ssscooter66]

Thanks JB. Looking at this link brought me to the next gallery which was top V8 vehicles on the market and the ZR1 was listed. It then had a link to one for sale on e-bay (that ended) but the pics were still available of a gorgeous white ZR1.. almost exactly if I had spec'd it out for what I would want except for the large wing. Gotta stop thinking about the ZR1.

Good luck with that .....

[Bikerjulio]

If "driving fun" has become an oxymoron in our massive urban and exurban sprawls where a good part of the population live, then "fun to drive cars" become irrelevant. My own experience is the Greater Toronto area (GTA) which has become a vast crowded suburban sprawl with no joy to driving. Just sitting in endless traffic. After moving into the City itself, I lost all interest in cars. In fact they become a burden, and not really necessary at all. I could bike around the city far more quickly than driving. And no parking hassles. It's only since I fled the city that my interest has become restored.

My own experience is echoed in my 4 children living in the City. They range in age from '20's to 40 and none own a car. To them they are appliances for the occasional rental.

So, a little sad though the list is, it's not a surprise to me.

[Boomer]

Let me spin this some: With 18,791 sold, the Corvette was the top seller of all "Great Cars Nobody Bought in 2018".

[JB]

Even as disappointing as 18 k annual corvettes sold is...for the 2 seat sports car segment its actually still impressive.

Im more surprised at what didnt sell as well....


lower priced 2 seat sports cars took it on the chin as dod some expensive ones...

the audi R8....the acura NSX both sucked wind...

what is going to be amazing is how well the standard c8 z51 will sell in at least the first 4 years.

i believe gm will get at least an extra year of got to have fever on the c8 and of course the grand sport and other versions will promote impressive prefitability ..

if i remember correctly half of the 18k units sold have been grand sports....a tememdous value...

just imagine if GM had upped the advertised hp to 500....in the grand sport....even more would have been buying...

performance wise it would have amounted to very little imorovement but desireability amoung the faithful would have skyrocketed upward...

maybe the extra couple of thousand units of sales wasnt worth the development costs...?

still 18k units sold is imoressive in this world of cuvs.

hot rod cuvs are where the market is going...

porsche macans, jaguar i paces....gm is missing the mark without a ev battery icon corvette crosstek...

porsche is now a cuv maker who dabbles in boutique sports cars...

at some point ill be replacing my alfa stelvio ti sport and i sure would prefer to get my better half a corvette crosstek instead of...?

Sports car market is 3volving into sports car cuv market....that allows funding for our belov3d corvette 2 seat sports car development...

[ltomn]

Let me spin this some: With 18,791 sold, the Corvette was the top seller of all "Great Cars Nobody Bought in 2018".

Why spin it? Selling close to 19,000 automobiles is not a statistic that belonged in that article. Why folks are dissing the C7 in it's mature years is beyond me. It has come to fruition and is a superb sports car. Call it a GT if you'd like but call it a great car!

[John]

Selling 18,791 new, great, +$50K sports cars per year is something that everyone other OEM would love to have done last year. Corvette stands alone in that category, and at 40% of sports cars in its market segment, is consistently # 1.

[Boomer]

Why spin it?

Cause the article placed the C7 in an unfair light for the reasons you and John stated in your posts.

[JB]

I cant believe how badly some of these vehicles sold...

its downright scarey to think how the sports car market is contracting...

the consumers today are cuv crazy...

[Ssscooter66]

I know that at least one of the " Big 3 " manufacturers who's going to stop making cars soon because of the profit amount & and like JB said. " the consumers are SUV crazy "