America's Zombie Autos: Forgotten But Not-Quite-Gone Yet, These 17 Autos Keep Finding Buyers
Honda hasn’t produced a new first-generation Ridgeline since 2014. Yet in the first four months of 2016, prior to the second-generation Ridgeline’s showroom arrival, Honda dealers managed to get a couple of long-since forgotten Ridgelines into customer hands.
But the Ridgeline’s ability to show up on U.S. sales charts in early 2016 isn’t unique. There have even been seven total sales of the Porsche 918 Spyder, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, and Lexus LFA so far this year.
Extinct, discontinued, on hiatus, buried, forgotten: these 17 “new” vehicles aren’t dead — yet.
Honda Crosstour: 638
Toyota Venza: 472
Mazda5: 259
Infiniti Q40: 52
Mini Paceman: 39
Honda Insight: 30
Nissan Xterra: 30
Nissan Cube: 14
Scion xD: 8
Scion iQ: 4
Toyota FJ Cruiser: 4
Mini Roadster: 3
Jaguar XK: 3
Land Rover LR2: 3
Mazda2: 3
Acura TSX: down 91.3% to 2
Honda Ridgeline: down 99.6% to 2
[Image Sources: Honda, Toyota, Mini, Nissan]
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
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The Nissan Xterra is no long produced, which likely accounts for it's few recent sales. It was an excellent vehicle (I own one) and a very viable alternative to the Wrangler. As for the Ridgeline, it was/is built on the same platform as the Odyssey and cannot be considered a real truck.
When I saw zombie-autos, I was thinking Olds Aurora, Pontiac Grand-AM, and Plymouth Breeze. Yes, they're "orphan" cars, but zombie fits beause their nameplates are already dead. The cars listed are just models being discontinued and are still being sold new from existing stock, so zombie doesn't quite fit. They're more like the future "ghosts of Christmas Past."