Top 10: New cars that should be canned

By John LeBlanc Instead of throwing good money after bad, tablet-maker Hewlett Packard made headlines recently when it canceled its TouchPad only a few weeks after launch due to poor sales in a segment dominated by Apple’s iPad. Analysts saw the news as a surprise. Most companies are afraid to admit mistakes. And the same holds true for the auto industry, where despite weak product and dismal sales, automakers are reluctant to make the hard decision to cancel obvious losers. I don’t have such fears. So here are my top 10 cars that should be discontinued so they can join the HP Touchpad on the sidelines:

2011 Honda Insight

When the Insight hybrid was launched in 2009, it was sold as the least-expensive gas-electric hybrid you could buy, costing thousands less than the $27,000 class-leading Toyota Prius. Assuming success, Honda Canada projected Insight sales of about 5,000 per year — a projection the unrefined Insight has never come close to meeting. Through to the end of September of this year, only 228 Insights (or about one-half the number of Honda’s new CR-Z hybrid sports coupe and one-sixth the pace of the Prius) have been sold in Canada — a staggering 74 per cent drop from last year.

2011 Hyundai Veracruz

Going on sale for 2007, the Veracruz was the Korean automaker’s take on the likes of the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander. But unlike its popular Santa Fe and Tucson crossover siblings, the ‘Cruz has never resonated with customers. While Toyota has sold 3,995 Highlanders and 3,275 Honda Pilots through the end of September this year, only 1,076 Veracruzes have left Canadian Hyundai dealer lots.

2011 Lexus GS

There’s a new, fourth-generation GS midsize luxury sedan coming from Lexus in 2012. But you have to wonder why. Since its introduction in 1993, the Lexus mid-size luxury sedan never has been able to compete against class-leaders like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. In a segment that has seen Mercedes move 2,851 examples of its E-Class this year, and BMW sell 2,057 copies of its 5 Series, so far in 2011, Lexus Canada has been able to only sell 99 GS units — down 50 per cent from the lowly 198 units that were sold for the first nine months of 2010.

Maybach

Despite sales that have perennially lagged behind its chief rival, BMW’s Rolls-Royce Phantom, parent Daimler continues to sell a few Maybach limousines in Canada. In fact, a grand total of two Maybachs have been sold though the end of September this year. Not surprisingly, the rumbles of Maybach’s demise started again this spring, citing the arrival of the next generation Mercedes-Benz S Class in 2013 as a cancellation date. “We cannot confirm this report at all; there is no such decision. Moreover, every Maybach sold contributes to profit and we will continue to cultivate Maybach,” officials from the German automaker noted.

Saab

If Saab was being run by HP execs, they probably would have killed off the moribund brand years ago. But, unfortunately, Saab is run by a bunch of sentimentalists who continue to think the brand is relevant, despite Maybach-like sales numbers. Although Canadian Saab dealers continue to hang out their shingles, (mainly to generate revenue from servicing the notoriously unreliable vehicles) with sales of only 93 copies of its 9-3 compact and 45 examples of its “all-new” 9-5 sedan, someone needs to put a fork in Saab. Please.

Scion

It’s been one year since Toyota Canada introduced its so-called “youth” Scion brand here. And the brand has a lo-o-o-ng way to go to meet its initial target of selling 30,000 units annually by 2013. Through the end of last month, only 3,637 Scion xDs, xBs and tCs have been sold in Canada, which projects to about 5,000 units moved by the end of December — or less than the number of Souls Kia Canada will sell this year.

2011 Subaru Tribeca

Created in the days when General Motors owned a share of the Japanese automaker, the Tribeca crossover’s original styling was criticized for being too, well, stylish, which caused Subaru to resort to an ultra-conservative look for 2008, which eerily made it look like a Chrysler Pacifica. But none of that has seemed to work. With only 339 examples sold this year, the Tribeca is by far Subaru’s least popular car in Canada, trailing far behind the next best-selling Legacy sedan (2,423).

2011 Suzuki Kizashi

At the Kizashi’s launch in late 2009, the Japanese automaker boasted that during the development of the new midsize sedan, it was benchmarked against Alfa Romeos for handling, Volkswagens for solidity, and delivers “Japanese quality with European flair.” Too bad the anonymously styled and small-ish four-door sells like a Saab. Suzuki as a brand isn’t having a great time in Canada. Overall sales through September are down 41 per cent. And in a segment where Ford has already sold 15,252 Fusions, and Volkswagen 8,278 Jettas, only 565 Kizashis have found homes in 2011.

2011 Toyota Tundra

Like its Scion brand, Toyota had high hopes for its second-generation Tundra when launched in February 2007. Finally, the truck would have the capacity, power and variety (available in 31 configurations, which consisted of three bed lengths and cab configurations, four wheelbases, two transmissions) to take on the Big Three’s dominant full-size pickup offerings. Heck, the Japanese automaker even built a second plant in the heart of pickup country, Texas, to make 300,000 annually for the U.S. and Canada.Unfortunately, sales have never reached those projections. In the U.S., Tundra sales for the first nine months of this year sit at 61,057, with a little over 81,000 copies projected to be sold this year. In Canada, the annual number is more like 6,700.

2011 Volkswagen Routan

Since the Routan minivan went on sale in September 2008, the question’s always been: Why? In concept — a rebadged version of the world’s best-selling Chrysler minivans — seemed like a good idea. But like the HP Touchpad vs. the Apple iPad tablet wars, minivan customers wanted the real thing. Whereas Chrysler Canada has been able to sell 47,543 Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Town & Countrys, VW Canada has only managed to sell 697 Routans this year. And that’s down by 20 per cent from last year. Sales figures courtesy of Automotive News Data Centre.

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