10 Cars That Didn't Hit The Mark

Just 484 models of the Q70 were sold in 2016 across the whole of Europe. While Infiniti never set their sights particularly high when they launched the Q70, they expected better than that. The car starts at a healthy £34,260 - which is only just shy of the Mercedes E Class at £36,000 and BMW 5 Series at £35,000. It’s really no huge surprise that the Q70 has undersold.

On sale between 1995 and 1997, it was a totally impractical, odd looking 2-door , 2-seater SUV-style vehicle featuring a T-section removable roof. Despite the praise and (mostly) positive reviews, Suzuki only sold around 8553 examples. These were mostly exported to the US and a small number were sold in Japan. During the two years, 484 vehicles were exported to Australia. Very few were ever imported into Europe. By mid-1997 retail pricing had been dropped by 25%. The fact that it was on sale for only two years confirmed there was no real place in the market for such a niche vehicle.

Was this a large luxury MPV, 4x4, or Estate? Since the vehicle was launched, poor sales of the model have been attributed to a crowded marketplace, poor marketing positioning, and fuel efficiency concerns by consumers. Mercedes-Benz were unable to convince the public that the sophisticated R-Class was a pioneer of a new category of vehicle, as consumers seemed to prefer more traditional SUV/ crossover styles. Sales didn’t meet with the manufacturer's expectations, yet it continued to be made until 2013 having fallen well short of a planned 50,000 units a year.

Launched in 2004 as a compact MPV, the 1007 was not the prettiest car, yet it was distinguishable from its rivals as it had two electrically operated 'van style' sliding doors. This was not simply a cheap gimmick, it genuinely made accessing the vehicle far easier when you were parked in a space the size of a postage stamp, and for easier access when parked on a hill. The 1007 was dropped from Peugeot's UK model lineup in 2008 after disappointing sales figures.

Many mass-market manufacturers have tried to go premium and many have failed. The Genesis from Hyundai is the latest car to take the leap 9and fail somewhat miserably.) Imagine being in the market for an executive car and you’ve got at least £50,000 to spend. You could have a Porsche, Jaguar, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo or Audi or… a Hyundai. No offence to Hyundai, they make some really cracking cars, genuinely excellent, but they don’t have that desirability factor in the UK, and it’s unlikely they ever will. The Genesis was dropped from the lineup in July 2017 after selling just 50 cars over 2 years.

Top Gear once said "All in all it’s a car that was as useful as a chocolate teapot." Launched in 2003 with its fabric roof, detachable roof pillars and sliding roof, this could be configured as a full or partial convertible. However, the downside was once the roof side rails had been removed, there was nowhere to put them. This car would have been best suited to a sunny climate but it was just too much hassle in the UK. The Pluriel was withdrawn in early 2010.

As soon as the VAG group aligned all their models, the days were numbered for the Phaeton. The VW brand had to be more desirable than the Skoda brand, more affordable than the Audi brand, and more sophisticated than the SEAT brand, but that spelt trouble for the Phaeton. Why buy an executive VW when you could have an executive Audi for a similar price, with the same underpinnings, a smarter interior and a more desirable badge on the front? Just 1,510 Phaetons were sold in Europe in 2015 - not good enough considering each car was handbuilt...

The Ampera was introduced as a hybrid car early on in the hybrid revolution. Released in 2012, the Ampera had an electric range for 25 to 50 miles and also packed an emergency charge which could offer an extra three to four miles of electric-only driving, just in case your primary battery and petrol tank run completely dry. The Ampera has now been dropped. The UK, which was the Ampera’s biggest market, bought 15,000 Amperas over a 3 year period, but the price tag (£30,000) was just too much for buyers - especially when the more popular, more economical and more affordable Toyota Prius was on the market.

This retro style 5dr hatchback compact car was launched by Chrysler in 2000. The PT standing for "Personal Transport". The Retro-look car enjoyed a brief boom after its launch, but then seemed to age with speed once the initial novelty had worn off. It no longer turned heads or attracted attention, well not for the right reasons anyway... In 2005 the convertible model was launched and by the end of 2007 it officially ceased production. Good riddance.

Remember these things? Hideous, weren’t they? The Hummer H3 was an over sized Sport Utility Vehicle. These giant 4x4s certainly made a bold statement - problem was, few people felt it was one they needed to make. It was a disgustingly excessive car which returned an equally vile 15mpg - and that was on a good run. In 2009 just 46 Hummers found homes here in the UK - and that was with the ridiculous celebrity appeal that the Hummer brand somehow stumbled upon. Owners GM 'retired' the brand globally after a sale to a Chinese firm fell through.