At funerals or memorial services, the whole truth about the deceased is not always told. Some speakers politely conceal unpleasant things, some just lie. In this farewell speech to vehicles that have reached the end of production, however, may be blasphemed to your heart's content, but also mourned honestly.
New vehicle models are coming, others are saying goodbye to the German car market: there is this cycle every year, of course also in 2015. So the Lancia Servus brand told us, but so quietly that hardly anyone would have noticed. If you even knew that the Italians were still alive. The beautiful and noble shapes had long been sworn off, the recycling of American sheet metal bodies like Chrysler Voyager did not lead to a revival, but instead to accelerated singing. Consequently, there was only the Ypsilon small car to buy at the end. Either way, at the end of the year, the Italians ended their engagement in Germany and limited themselves to their home market - but only with the Ypsilon.
Speaking of small cars: After Subaru has sold since last year, the Trezia, came this year also the end for the sister model Toyota Verso-S. Too expensive, formally unconvincing: There are clearly much fancier and cheaper compact cars; the interested parties know that. Maybe it also speaks to the japanese responsible persons and designers at some point. Also at Mini was cleaned up and sorted out. The new generation of the trendy cult car, which has been available since the end of 2014, has become larger and more spacious, but the model range is shrinking. Mini Coupe and Mini Roadster flew out of the program. As a consolation for all fans of fresh air: The convertible variant is not set, rather 2016 reissued.
The top-not-enthusiasts did not have that much luck everywhere. This year, it met brand-wide steel folding roof variants. Be it that the costs for these constructions were too high, it was that the rear views were simply too chubby due to the space required for the complex technology. In any case, the hype surrounding this type of convertible is long gone. And so VW adjusted the Eos and Renault the Mégane Coupé Cabriolet. Peugeot took with the 308 CC his last CC vehicle from the program. That even Nissan's noble daughter Infiniti has not only set the Q60 coupe, but also the convertible, but should have been noticed by only a few.
Lack of customer interest also meant the end for some mid-size sedans. The non-domestic providers are doing in Germany, as is well known to convince the customers in this already quite prestigious league of the merits of their models. And not always this succeeds satisfactorily. Suzuki therefore ended the attempt to show with the Kizashi that you can do more than small cars and Allradler. Hyundai now focuses only on the estate version of the i40, the sedan is no longer offered. Honda goes one step further and does not offer the Accord anymore. The same applies to Renault with the Laguna. Here, after all, there is a real successor with the talisman.
Despite its successor, the SX4 S-Cross, the Suzuki SX4 as low-priced entry-level model "SX Classic" initially available. Meanwhile, however, production is discontinued. Even without direct successor is the compact SUV Opel Antara, which ran as Chevrolet Captiva twin until this summer in Korea from tape. Fans will have to wait until next year, when a CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), created in collaboration with PSA (Peugeot / Citroen), will benefit from the sustained SUV boom.
Of course, other brands, Seat and Skoda for example, but also Mazda, rely on this successful division. The Golf Plus derivative Seat Altea, the Skoda Roomster high-roof station wagon and the Mazda5 van are no longer available and have no direct successors. Instead, each of the VW group brands has an SUV based on the new Tiguan, with a naturally more stylish design than the very everyday, if not necessarily trendy, vehicles offered so far. Mazda customers with space requirements have to resort to the CX-6 if they cannot get used to the Mazda5.
Last but not least, there are real off-road vehicles in question: those with which one can drive through the deserts of the world for which no slope is too slippery or too steep. But they fail due to the modern exhaust and safety regulations. So takes Toyota the Land Cruiser V8 from the European product range. The Dick ship with 4,5-liter eight-cylinder no longer creates the Euro 6 emissions standard - or the effort would be too great. A similar problem has also the Land Rover Defender. In addition there are insurmountable obstacles in pedestrian protection. The ancient rock must therefore be beaten. After 68 years is now over. At least the Defender has achieved a truly biblical age for a car.