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Car brands come and go.
The US car market was only recently surpassed by China as the world’s largest. Small wonder that for decades, domestic and foreign brands alike have fought for a lucrative piece of the action.
But world financial crises, mismanagement and changing priorities or consumer tastes have all curtailed automakers’ Stateside ambitions down the years. Here are 20 models – like this Saab 9-5 – that represented the final offerings of brands in the US or Canadian markets before they went out of business - or took the next flight home to their home countries.
And it’s not just foreign automakers either – ever wondered what the last Oldsmobile or Pontiac ever was? Now you can find out.
We start with the oldest and work our way to the most recent:
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NSU: Spider (1967)
The Spider (pictured here in Berlin, Germany) was a Wankel-engined predecessor to the NSU Ro80, which was not sold in the US. By the time it was discontinued in 1967, just over 200 Spiders had been delivered Stateside.
NSU’s successor company, Audi, sold 223,323 vehicles in the US in 2018.
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Citroën: SM (1974)
The last car to be sold officially by Citroën in North America was the SM (modified with four fixed lamps, as shown here), way back in 1974. Sales ceased when it no longer met US bumper regulations.
A Dutch company, CxAuto, federalized big Citroëns – first the CX, later the XM – and imported them into the US until 1997.
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MG: Midget (1980)
By the time US sales of MGs ceased in 1980, the brand was a long way beyond its North American heyday.
Both the Midget and the MGB had been around for almost 20 years and now, with legislation-meeting black rubber bumpers and increased ride heights, they no longer looked as good nor handled as well as they once had.
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Triumph: TR7 (1981)
The four-cylinder TR7 and V8-powered TR8 were the last in a line of Triumph sports cars for which the US had always been the biggest market.
By the time production of the wedge-shaped two-seaters ended in 1981, some 112,000 TR7s and around 3,000 TR8s had been built.
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Renault: Alliance (1987)
Long before the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, there was the Renault Alliance. When Renault took a stake in the American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1979, it signalled the beginning of a foray into the North American market that would last less than a decade.
The US-made Alliance and Encore models – modified versions of the European Car of the Year-winning Renault 9 and 11 – were not a success.
In 1987, Renault sold its stake in AMC to Chrysler and departed US shores. Today, Renault offers short-term lease alternatives to rental cars for US and Canadian tourists coming to Europe.
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Skoda: Rapid 135 (1989)
The last of the rear-engine, rear-drive Skodas were sold in Canada from 1982-1989. The 1.3-liter, fuel-injected engine offered “high cruising speeds at a very low fuel consumption”, according to a brochure from the time.
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TVR: Griffith 500 (1990)
TVRs were imported into the US from the 1950s to the 1980s, and into Canada until 1992. The final model to come across the Atlantic from Britain was the Griffith 500. The delayed new Griffith is unlikely to be sold officially in the US.
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Peugeot: 405 (1991)
Peugeot had sold cars in North America since 1958, but by the 1990s the writing was on the wall. In 1990 it sold just over 4,000 cars on the continent and the business was closed in the summer of the following year.
Current PSA CEO, Carlos Tavares has said that the Peugeot brand will return to North America in the next decade.
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Eagle: Talon (1998)
The Eagle brand was maintained for a decade following the Chrysler takeover of AMC in 1987. The second-generation Talon was the last vehicle to carry the Eagle name.
It was powered by 2.0-liter engines, with or without turbo, and was mechanically identical to the Mitsubishi Eclipse. Both were built from 1995-98 in Normal, Illinois, in a factory now owned by electric truck specialist Rivian.
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Lada: Samara (1998)
Lada sold cars in Canada for two decades, beginning with the Signet (ex-Fiat 124) from 1979. The 4WD Niva sold in the tens of thousands and was later joined by the Samara, which endured until the end of the 1998 model year.
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Plymouth: Neon (2001)
The next Chrysler-owned brand to disappear was Plymouth, which was phased out in Canada in 1999 and in the US two years later. A Neon sedan was the final Plymouth built, in June 2001.
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Daewoo: Lanos (2002)
The Lanos, Leganza and Nubira were imported into the US by Daewoo Motor America from 1998-2002, when the former Daewoo Motor was bought by GM to create what is now called GM Korea.
Subsequent GM Korea products – including the Lanos’s successor, the Aveo (later Sonic) – wore the Chevrolet badge in North America and, later, Europe.
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Oldsmobile: Alero (2004)
One of the world’s oldest marques was phased out over four years from 2000-04. The final Oldsmobile vehicle made was the midsize Alero, which ceased production in April 2004 after six years on the market.
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Saturn: Vue Hybrid (2009)
Built from 1990-2009, Saturns were GM’s attempt to create “A different kind of car company”. The second-generation Vue, seen here in hybrid form, was one of the four models in the range when GM ended the Saturn experiment after a proposed sale to Penske fell through.
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Pontiac: G6 (2010)
Like Saturn, Hummer and Saab, Pontiac was a GM casualty of the financial crisis of a decade ago that saw a rundown of many of its secondary brands.
The distinctive G6 – which was sold as a sedan, coupe or convertible – was the last to wear the badge and remained in demand until the end came in January 2010. The last Pontiac to roll off the line at Orion Township, Michigan, was a white G6 sedan.
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Mercury: Grand Marquis (2010)
Created in 1938 by Edsel Ford as a mid-range brand between Ford and Lincoln, Mercury was closed down at the end of 2010. Alongside the Mariner SUV and Milan sedan, the Grand Marquis was part of the final, three-model range, and was the last Mercury built.
Less than a year later, the St Thomas Assembly facility in Ontario, Canada – which also made the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car – was shut down.
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Saab: 9-5 (2011)
The second-generation 9-5 was in production for less than a year before Saab, by then under Spyker ownership, began the slide into bankruptcy in 2011. Just over 2,000 were sold to US buyers, with a few dozen more to Canadians.
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Suzuki: Grand Vitara (2012)
The third-generation Grand Vitara was already eight years old by the time Suzuki withdrew from the US market at the end of 2012. In Canada, the 2014 model-year Suzukis were the last cars from the brand to be sold.
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Scion: iM (2016)
Scion was Toyota’s youth brand in North America from 2003 to 2016, at which point the vehicles were rebranded as Toyotas.
The Scion iM shown here – based on the Toyota Auris – was later sold as the Toyota Corolla iM; it’s now been replaced by the Corolla hatchback.
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