Driving By Numbers: Are these 10 cars unappealing to Canadian car buyers?

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It’s never been difficult to find poorly executed cars that consumers largely ignore. They deserve to be rejected, and they are. Think of the Pontiac Aztek, Dodge Nitro, and Kia Amanti.

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Nor has it ever been a challenge to spot the poorly executed cars that consumers took a liking to anyhow. They didn’t deserve to be successful, and in the end they weren’t. But for a while, vehicles such as the Dodge Caliber, Chevrolet Venture, and Volkswagen Beetle put up big numbers.

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Driving By Numbers: Are these 10 cars unappealing to Canadian car buyers? Back to video

Not as easily identifiable, however, are the vehicles that are worthy of honour yet receive none. It seems only in hindsight that people realize vehicles such as the Mazda 5, Ford Flex, Lincoln LS, Pontiac G8, Kia Borrego, and Suzuki Kizashi would have made sense in their driveways.

But what about current models? Consumer Reports grouped together 10 vehicles that produced fewer than 20,000 U.S. sales in 2020 but also earned high overall scores from the independent, reliability-focused organization.

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Consumer Reports calls them Hidden Gems, The Best Cars Nobody Buys . But what exactly does “nobody” really mean? And what about here in Canada, where our tastes are prone to differ?

Toyota Avalon

Like no other vehicle on this list, “nobody buys,” is entirely pertinent with the Toyota Avalon. Only 102 were sold during 2021’s first-half. By 2023, if not in 2022, expect that number to drop to zero. Toyota is pulling the plug on the brand’s full-size sedan flagship. In the Canadian market, the Avalon’s quality, dependability, luxury, space, and long-distance cruising ability haven’t mattered in a decade. Toyota last hit four digits on an annual basis in 2013.

Audi A4

In the mid to late 1990s, the Audi A4 took over from the Audi 80 and served as the foundation for Audi’s modern success. And yes, success is most definitely the right word — no premium auto brand in Canada sold more vehicles in 2021’s first six months than Audi. But only 1,018 of Audi’s 17,046 first-half sales were A4s. Consumer Reports says, “we think it’s one of the best compact luxury sedans out there.” Sadly, it doesn’t matter. Audi’s business is now based on the Q5 and Q3. The days of Audi selling 7,000 A4s per year, as the brand did in 2017, are over.

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Infiniti Q50

Infiniti shook up the affordable luxury sports sedan market with its first G35 in 2003. Nearly two decades later, its Q50 successor is an objectively superior car, but it’s an often forgotten competitor for the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Lexus IS. Only 568 Q50s were sold in Canada’s first six months of 2021. BMW averages that many 3 Series sales every 6-7 weeks.

Volkswagen Arteon

The Arteon earned an 81-point overall score from Consumer Reports , which says, “We really like the Arteon.” According to CR , the Arteon “has a comfortable ride, plenty of power, an upscale interior, and a versatile cargo area,” but is that even remotely enough to justify a $52,995 MSRP? Not in the minds of Canadian car buyers, it’s not. Only 168 Arteons were sold between January and June. That’s fewer buyers than Porsche managed to find for the Boxster.

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Lexus UX

The Lexus UX is a late arrival in Canada’s booming subcompact luxury space. Overshadowed by the hugely popular RX and surprisingly successful NX, the UX is nevertheless the third-best-selling model in Lexus’s hot lineup. Brand-wide, sales are up 45 per cent in 2021’s first six months. Lexus sold 1,525 copies of the UX. (In the U.S., the UX is the brand’s fifth-ranked model.) In this segment, the real winner is Audi’s Q3, over 4,200 of which were sold in 2021’s first-half.

Nissan Maxima

Like three of its rivals that also appear in this group, it simply doesn’t matter how good the Nissan Maxima is — the market for such cars has dried up. As a somewhat upmarket midsize sedan, the Maxima’s 300-horsepower V6 sets it apart from the majority of conventional family sedans that are sold with sub-200-horsepower four-cylinders. But Nissan wants near Infiniti Q50 money for the Maxima, which doesn’t always feel worthy of operating in the $40K-$50K bracket. Maxima volume, already low, has tanked in 2021, sliding 47 per cent to only 344 units. Nissan last sold more than 2,000 Maximas in Canada in 2017.

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BMW 2 Series

In 2021, sales of BMW 2 Series are surging. 1,178 were sold in the first six months, up 133 per cent from the first-half of 2020. It’s not a major total, but it’s not an unhealthy result for a lineup of small, high-performance cars. Long the bastion of entry-level lux, this category of cars has been sacrificed at the altar of more flexible vehicles like BMW’s own X1 and X2. But the 2 Series’ recent results are encouraging. For perspective, Chevrolet sold only 610 Camaros during the same period; Subaru only 1,548 WRXs.

Hyundai Veloster

Hyundai has moved the Veloster way upmarket in the hot hatch arena. The only model available is the 275-horsepower Veloster N at an eye-watering $37,799 MSRP. Gulp. Predictably, the Veloster has become very much a niche contender. Only 328 were sold in 2021’s first six months, a 20-per cent year-over-year decline in a surging market. More than 5,700 were sold in 2012, its first full year on the market. Consumer Reports calls the Veloster N, “a must-drive for any enthusiast.”

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Honda Insight

The current Honda Insight is Honda’s third kick at the can. With the first Insight, Honda was merely displaying the extreme capability of a hybrid powertrain. The second tried, unsuccessfully, to copy the Toyota Prius. The third is very much a hybrid version of the Honda Civic. But while the Civic is routinely Canada’s top-selling car, the third-gen Insight is nearly nonexistent on Canadian roads. Only 193 were sold in 2021’s first six months, compared with more than 20,000 Civics and 3,107 copies of the Insight’s nemesis, the Prius.

Chrysler 300

Largely unchanged for much of the last decade, the Chrysler 300 participates in a category where the bulk of the competition — large, volume brand sedans with premium price tags — have already given up the ghost. The 300 remains highly appealing thanks to its cruiser appeal, distinctive styling, and wealth of features. But Consumer Reports is right: “the 300 is a throwback.” Only 505 copies of the 300 were sold in Canada in 2021’s first six months. 15 years ago, Chrysler was selling more than 1,000 per month in Canada.