The Final Countdown: The 13 Worst-Selling Cars of 2014

When it comes to annual sales figures, it’s easy to pick the winners. Touted by self-congratulatory advertising and fluffy press releases, the year's top-selling cars rarely surprise. It’s the models that finish the year on the other end of the list that have a story to tell, and not always a sad one—limited production and exclusivity can account for low sales. With that in mind, check out our list of the “worst”-selling cars available for the entirety of 2014. We think you'll find the story far more entertaining than the title implies. (Notes: All data from Automotive News through November. And sales for exotic and boutique carmakers aren’t broken out by individual models, so here are their total U.S. sales for your consideration: Lotus, 157; Lamborghini, 649; Rolls-Royce, 825, Aston Martin, 1122; Ferrari, 1925; and Bentley, 2591. Combined, these makers account for approximately one car sold for every 366 GM products to leave a U.S showroom in the first eleven months of 2014.) Officially known as the G-class, aficionados of Mercedes’s boxy, body on frame SUV commonly refer to it as the G-wagen. (It's short for "Geländewagen".) In production for decades, it has repeatedly been pulled back from the brink of extinction by a wealthy customer base who just cant get enough of paramilitary styling that is as home on Rodeo Drive as it is on an actual military base. On the strength of a recent refresh, sales of the G increased by more than 18 percent in the first eleven months of 2014. Formerly known as the EX, Infiniti’s entry-level crossover was renamed QX50 in the maker’s comprehensive nomenclature reshuffle of 2013. Now that the glue on badges has had time to dry, sales of this model inched upward by 34 percent compared to the same period last year. But a big increase on a little number still makes for, well, a little number. Perfected in an era when “runnin’ shine” still was conceivably a line you might put on a résumé, the formula of combining a big V-8 with a four-door crapcan reached its pinnacle with the Chevrolet SS. Thing is, the limited-production SS is as far from a crapcan as you can get, stopping and turning with a nimbleness its ancestral forebears could only dream of. On sale for just a few months so far, 2386 potential runners signed on for SS duty in 2014. Speaking on the state of sports-car sales in the U.S. and Europe, BMW sales chief Ian Robertson said earlier this year that the “market is roughly half of what it used to be,” adding, “Post 2008, it just collapsed. I’m not so sure it’ll ever fully recover.” OK, so that’s depressing. Wherever the sports-car market is headed, we’re glad that 1938 diehards shunned his words and purchased Z4s of their own. Fight the good fight, people. Nineteen and a half inches shorter than a Fiat 500 and named “iQ,” Scion’s tiny subcompact is a rolling punch line for budding stand-ups. Powered by a 1.3-liter four-cylinder producing less than 100 horsepower, the iQ has nonetheless has developed a tiny (zing!) but devoted following. Having seen its last full year of sales (the arrival of the F-type rendered the old girl basically irrelevant), the XK was born in 2006 when the brand was still part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. Now surrounded with a lineup flush with fresher sedans, coupes, and sports cars, the XK’s role is that a stately Grand Tourer, one it will fill nicely for the roughly 1400 people who just acquired one. Godzilla! You know it, you love it, 1280 people bought one. Analogous to Hyundai’s own luxobarge, the Equus, the K900 is more vintage Buick than BMW. Despite supplying the quiet interior, leather upholstery, wood trim, and infotainment overload required of a large luxury sedan, the K900 falls short dynamically when the road goes bendy. Kia wants buyers to view the K900 as a value next to the Germanic competition, but we’d rather spend our bucks on a car that's more about driving than gadgets. Based on the Chevrolet Volt, the ELR is longer, lower, wider, and slightly slower in EV mode (our testing revealed a 0-to-60-mph time 0.2 second slower) than the Chevy, but it's more than $40K pricier. Undeniably gorgeous, our feelings toward the ELR are still tainted by the smug commercial for the car that aired during the 2014 Super Bowl. With the third-generation 2016 Audi TT slated to hit showrooms in the very near future, it’s no surprise that the sales of the current model have slowed to a trickle. But don’t mistake the model for a slow-seller overall, as Audi has sold more than 500,000 copies of the TT coupe and convertible since the first-gen models debuted. The technology-packed new versions should keep the number rolling ever higher. The thinking man’s exotic—if there is such a thing—the R8 combines a multitude of powertrains, still-futuristic styling, and everyday drivability in an instinctive and practical package. V-8 and V-10 engines are available, as are a seven-speed automatic and—our choice—a delightful six-speed manual with gated shifter. A 550-hp “V-10 Plus” coupe model (pictured) joined the lineup for 2014, and it ought to help satiate the appetites of the discerning folks drawn to the R8. An all-new model is just around the bend, too. An all-American boy with a predilection for embarrassing Europeans, the Viper is a true reptile; as the world changes around it, it simply adapts, spinning-off limited editions and track-focused examples in the process. Motivated by a V-10 engine that was baptized in the engine bay of a truck, one Viper characteristic remains unchanged: Push it too hard, and it’ll bite back. Initially cursed with extremely slow sales, revised pricing that chopped $15K off of the MSRP have stoked the flames. Packing a combined 887 horsepower and 944 lb-ft of torque from its mid-mounted V-8 and a pair of electric motors, and capable of a top speed of 211 mph, the 918 is the low-slung, exotic antithesis of the Prius. Limited to a run of 918 units worldwide, it’s a good bet that the 57 copies of the $847,000-plus hypercar sold this year make up the bulk of the U.S. allotment for the car.



from Car and Driver Blog http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/the-final-countdown-the-13-worst-selling-cars-of-2014
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