Blame emissions regulations, the SUV conquerors, or simply the fact that the expected commercial career was not achieved, to justify the end of so many models during the year 2020.
These are the same reasons behind those that disappeared in 2019 and if the list of models was already large that year, 2020 is not far behind. The car industry is undergoing a rapid transformation and this means that the old has to give way to the new, forcing to close (too many) chapters of a story about wheels.
As always, the models mentioned refer, above all, to those that were marketed in Portugal and Europe.
From the smallest to the biggest
This one took us by surprise as it had been revealed… in 2019. Skoda Citigo-e IV , the 100% electric version of the city, disappears in 2020, after a year on sale. The end of this version also means the end of Citigo's career, launched in 2011 — what will it mean for the “brothers” SEAT Mii and Volkswagen up?
From the smallest we take the leap to some of the biggest models that are leaving us in 2020. The end of production of S-Class Coupé and S-Class Convertible (C117 generation) ended in the summer of 2020 with the start of production of the new S-Class (W223) and will have no successors. Why? Not only sales of coupés and convertibles continue to contract, but the rampant electrification that Mercedes-Benz is going through forces it to dispense with some models so that others (especially electric) can be developed.
A commercial career below expectations was the main reason Bentley ended production of the mulsanne , its top of the range, launched in 2009. The huge and luxurious British saloon had no arguments for its biggest rival, the Rolls-Royce Phantom. With the end of the Mulsanne also ends the long — very long — career of its 6.75 l V8, whose first version hit the market in… 1959. The Flying Spur is currently taking on the top-of-the-range role at Bentley.
In relation to the end of the Aston Martin Rapide (launched in 2009), four-door, the reason for not having a successor is the arrival of the Aston Martin DBX, the brand's first SUV. Admittedly, the model already had a decade of life, but instead of creating a new saloon from the DB11 to take its place, Aston Martin also wanted to take advantage of the greater return potential of an SUV — given the problems you've been through in the last year, it's imperative that this higher return happens.
One of the most daring and controversial Ferraris made to date also meets its end with no direct successor. I mean of course the Ferrari GTC4Lusso (launched in 2016), the true and only shooting brake, the most familiar model ever from the Maranello brand. We will have to wait until 2022 to meet a kind of successor and it will assume the contours of a… SUV — not even Ferrari could resist. For now it is known as Thoroughbred!
Say goodbye to these little family members too
2021 for Alfa Romeo will mean a smaller range, concentrated on the Giulia and Stelvio. This is because we have to say goodbye to the veteran Giulietta , the representative of the Italian brand in the C-segment that was launched in 2010 and has already undergone several updates. The best year of his career was in 2012, with more than 79 thousand units sold, but his advanced age in a segment that is constantly being renewed does not forgive: in 2019 he ended up with just over 15 thousand units.
His career ends without a direct successor and we will still have to wait for the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022 to meet a new Alfa Romeo model for the segment: the Tonale. And yes it is an SUV.
The arrival of a new Citroën C4 also means the end of the original C4 Cactus . Launched in 2014 as an interesting and original alternative to the SUV gauge that was fiercely invading the market, it was asked, a few years later, to take the place of the dreary second-generation C4. The restyling it received has softened its more original characteristics and is now replaced… by another crossover, but with more dynamic contours.
THE Volvo V40 , the Swedish brand's stepping stone, also ends a long career in the segment, having been launched in 2012. Which model will take its place? We do not know; Volvo continues to keep the mystery, despite the promise of a new model for the segment. At first, we assumed it was the production version of the 40.2 concept, but that ended up being Polestar 2.
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It's also the end of models Q30 and QX30 of Infiniti. Hopes were high in 2015 when both models — virtually indistinguishable from each other — were launched, aiming to cement Nissan's premium brand presence in Europe. But that's not what happened… Sales were little more than residual for the pair of models derived from the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, and with its end, Infiniti as a brand also bids farewell to Europe.
Volvo V40
Finally, in 2020 also the e-Golf (generation 7), the electric version of the well-known model, is no longer produced — the generation 8 will not have an electric variant. Its production even took longer than planned, not only to meet continued growing sales, but also to complement the ID.3 start-up, while Volkswagen smoothed the edges of its first all-electric model.
There is more?
Yes there is. The list of models that disappear in 2020 still goes on. In case of Lexus IS , this is not the end of its production, as it was recently renovated, but it is a renovation that will not reach us — the IS will no longer be marketed in Europe. The low sales justifies it — a phenomenon we see in other “classic” sedans — in contrast to the growing sales of their crossover and SUV.
THE BMW 3GT Series disappears from the catalogs without leaving a successor. We can say that this is a crossover — the possible mix between a fastback and an MPV — that has never really managed to convince in the market, despite the good arguments in terms of space and practice. Interestingly, the biggest 6GT is still on sale, thanks to its performance in markets like China.
Not leaving the familiar theme, also the SEAT Alhambra — this same one, which is produced in Palmela, at Autoeuropa — ends its career after the current generation has been in production for 10 years. The end of Volkswagen Sharan may not be far away. The reason is easy to understand, as there is now a seven-seater Tarraco SUV.
Changing the format, we also have to say goodbye to Mercedes-Benz X-Class , which turned out to be a commercial flop, although pickups in Europe have seen their sales grow in recent years. The pick-up, derived from Nissan Navara, leaves the market after a meager three years of life (launched in 2017) with sales never having met the star's brand expectations.
Mercedes-Benz X-Class
Last but not least, we saw the end of a couple of more performance-focused models. the futurist BMW i8 , launched in 2014 as a coupé and in 2018 as a roadster, was the brand's first plug-in hybrid and is no longer produced after 20,500 units have been made.
The end of production of the Peugeot 308 GTI it is significant, as the hot hatch also represents the end of the historic acronym GTI in the French brand — henceforth we will see a new acronym, PSE, to identify the sportier versions of the Peugeots.
Note also for Italians Abarth 124 Spider and Alfa Romeo 4C Spider . Although these models ended in 2019 in Europe, they remained on sale during 2020 in other parts of the planet. But now it really is the definitive end for both models.