Some car brands like Ford or General Motors have stood the test of time. But for every success story, there are a bunch of failures. We’re looking at you, Deloreon! These are car brands that are now defunct.
Plymouth was a brand introduced by the Chrysler Corporation in 1928. It wanted to compete in the low-priced market controlled by Chevrolet and Ford. The brand was taken out in 2001.
Pontiac is another defunct brand. It was a division of General Motors designed to replace GM’s more expensive line of Oakland automobiles. Pontiac became a successful brand by 1933. The Pontiac tagline was ‘We Build Excitement.’
Saab was a car manufacturer founded in 1945 in Sweden. The first model produced was the Saab 92 in 1949. The company continued making quality cars through the 1980s. Mercury is a defunct division of the Ford Motor Company. The line was created in 1938 by Edsel Ford and produced medium-priced vehicles to bridge the price gap between Ford and Lincoln.
Oldsmobile was a brand from General Motors established in 1897 as ‘Olds Motor Vehicle Company.’ The company produced over 35 million vehicles. Another famous name brand was the Hummer brand of pickups and SUVs, first marketed in 1992. These were civilian versions of the military’s M998 Humvee.
The Saturn Corporation began in 1985 in an attempt by General Motors to compete with Japanese imports. Marketed as a ‘Different kind of car company,’ Saturn vehicles used GM’s advanced spaceframe construction and dent-resistant polymer exterior panels.
Scion was a Toyota car that debuted in 2003 and intended to spark interest with younger customers. These sporty, compact vehicles had a simplified ‘pure price’ sales approach and used viral marketing techniques. Other defunct cars include the Studebaker, American Motors Corporation, and the infamous Delorean.
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