5 cars we’ll miss in 2024—and 5 we won’t
As 2023 winds to a close and we turn our attention to what lies ahead, a moment of reflection is due for cars that won’t see another year. In true end-of-year fashion, we’re feeling a bit dismayed about a few vehicles that are making their way to the big parking lot in the sky. We’re also happy to show a handful of vehicles to the exit.
Presented here, in no particular order, are five cars that we’ll miss come 2024—and five that we most certainly won’t. Be sure to join us in the comments: Which of our choices do you agree with? What other vehicles should have made the list?
We’ll miss:
Chevrolet Camaro
We’ve already covered the Camaro’s demise in extensive detail, from the last sixth-gen to roll off the assembly line (a manual ZL1 1LE) to four unique models that time forgot. But to say we’ll miss the Camaro remains an understatement.
Over six triumphant generations, the Camaro stoked the pony car wars to ever-increasing heights. With no word yet from Chevy on any sort of succession plans, there’s an Alpha-platformed hole in our hearts. The sixth-generation car was a genuine performance masterpiece, gifting the Camaro with a superb chassis that finally matched (or even exceeded) the heroic powerplants found under the hood. Pour one out, folks: The loss of this one stings.
Dodge Challenger/Charger
If the Camaro was the athlete of the Detroit muscle crowd and the Mustang was the icon, then the Dodge Charger and Challenger siblings were the ones you wanted to hang with at a party. Their boisterous demeanor and ability to meet buyers at seemingly any price point meant that there was a Mopar solution for everyone.
While there are rumblings of a new gas-powered Challenger on the horizon, and Dodge snuck a new vehicle silhouette into a holiday ad, such a vehicle will likely ditch the rumbling Hemi V-8 in favor of a twin-turbo inline-six. The Challenger and Charger names may endure, but their ethos will change significantly. For that reason, we mourn the demise of the Mopar twins.
Audi TT
When Freeman Thomas sketched out the first lines for the Audi TT, few could have predicted the impact the car would have—not just on Audi’s trajectory, but on the entire world of automotive design. When the Mk1 TT hit the streets in 1998, it was an immediate success. Early examples are now starting to find a place within the collector-car zeitgeist.
The TT spanned three generations over 25 years, but it will not see the calendar turn over again. Little sports cars like this are a hard segment to survive in, but the TT managed to do so without ever sacrificing the avant-garde styling that made the first one such a revelation. The gorgeous green going-away present pictured above is one of 50 Final Edition cars, all of which are coming to the U.S. The TT departs this world with its head held high—for very good reason.
Kia Stinger
The shapely proportions of a four-door liftback, a 365-hp twin-turbo V-6, all- or rear-wheel-drive, and genuine sporting intent … from a Kia? That was the thought clanging around much of the automotive world when the Stinger arrived in 2017.
Kia wanted to use the Stinger to change the public’s perception of the company from rental-fleet-chic to something a bit more aspirational. The success of the Stinger in that regard is up for debate—the Telluride did more of the heavy lifting—but the fact that the Stinger was a genuinely interesting machine is fact. Like the Pontiac GTO—yes, we went there, figuratively and literally—the Stinger was an attempt to get buyers to pay attention. Unfortunately, the Stinger was always in for an uphill battle, and 2023 marks the year it finally waves the white flag.
Audi R8
Over two generations, Audi’s mid-engined supercar shone as the brand’s most aspirational product. It may have been overshadowed a bit by the Lamborghini Huracán, with which it shared a platform and engine, but the R8 was no snoozer.
After a few years of coasting down the depreciation curve, first-gen R8s are starting to catch the eyes of collectors. Heck, we put it on last year’s Bull Market List (though, one year on, it hasn’t ascended to the heights we thought it might.) Perhaps the second-gen cars will experience a similar fate one day. This author certainly hopes so, because he has a bit of a soft spot for the R8. Way back when I first left college 10 days early to start my first job at Car and Driver, the Audi R8 was the first car I was allowed to drive—very slowly, through the parking lot of Virginia International Raceway over to the gas pumps. Still counts.
We won’t miss:
Fiat 500X/Jeep Renegade
We won’t miss either of these two, but our distaste for each stems from different places. The Fiat 500X and the Jeep Renegade were basically two adaptations of the same basic platform and drivetrain by two different brands.
We’d consider the Jeep the more appealing of the two, because, well, Jeep, but neither model wowed the American buyer. The 500X always felt quite compromised and uninspired, with European styling that failed to translate to our shores. The Renegade, while cute, is a spendy (just shy of $30K) proposition that’s also priced too similarly to the Compass ($27,495), a more spacious offering. Sales for the Renegade have plummeted in recent months, while sales of the 500X never really took off.
Mazda MX-30
Sold exclusively in California, the Mazda MX-30 was kind of destined to be a flop. With a 35.5-kWh battery and a meager, EPA-estimated electric range of 100 miles, this thing was handily outgunned by the competition by the time it arrived. Small and cramped, with a rear-hinged second-row door that opens like those on older extended-cab pickups, the MX-30 felt like the bizarre answer to a question almost nobody asked. That it won’t survive another year might just be in the best interests of everyone.
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
For a while there, the Mercedes-Benz order catalog reminded us a lot of the menu at The Cheesecake Factory: We’re sure many of the offerings on hand are quite tasty, but the sheer volume of options triggers paralysis by analysis.
The CLS-Class was initially pitched as a style-forward tweener that employed the E-Class chassis and a copious amount of sweeping bodylines. (It also fell into that silly camp of “four-door coupes” at which we loved to roll our eyes.) When Mercedes announced in 2022 that it would begin trimming its product lineup to focus on core offerings, we knew the writing was on the wall for a few of these go-betweens. For 2024, the CLS-Class is no more—not that most will notice.
Jeep Cherokee
Let’s make one thing clear here: We do miss the Jeep Cherokee. We just won’t miss this Jeep Cherokee.
Revived in 2014 for a lower-rung model situated below the costlier Grand Cherokee and above the Renegade, the Cherokee nameplate has, for the better part of a decade, come to denote a unibody crossover SUV that never could quite hack it against the competition. The nine-speed automatic gearbox was a consistent disappointment and the interior always lagged behind the competition in terms of finish, design, and quality.
Maybe we can all just forget this thing ever happened and agree to envision the loveable, boxy XJ when we talk about Jeep Cherokees. What do you say?
Kia Rio
Normally, we’d lament the demise of yet another affordable car that could be had new with a warranty for under $20,000. But in the case of the Kia Rio, we’ll hold our tongues. Ask gearheads to explain what they picture when you say, “Kia Rio,” and you’ll quickly hear jokes about engines flying through the hoods and tales of generally terrible build quality.
The current Rio is a fine car, but fine doesn’t cut it in a segment where the profit margins are thin and sales trends are only pointing down. In reality, there’s probably room for two, maybe three offerings in the subcompact sedan segment these days in America, and Nissan’s Versa and the Mitsubishi Mirage will carry this banner into 2024.
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Never owning any of them, nor the desire to do so, I won’t miss any of them.
The real issue here is most buyers will opt for a SUV or truck if they have the money. My first new car was a 1969 Camaro that was well built, fun to drive, but had a basic suspension. The next generation in 1970 handled better, but I remember they had gotten BIGGER and the interiors were CHEAP. Not something I’d buy. That theme seems to have held to the present. If you want bigger the Challenger is better looking. Meanwhile the Mustang after decades of sometimes questionable changes has gotten to be right sized and fun to drive. I’ve owned low slung sedans and sports cars that were good looking, but no fun to drive in today’s heavy traffic. Now I need something that navigates heavy traffic with ease and I can haul stuff to fix the house and work on my old hobby cars. Yup I drive a SUV.
I am a 67-Year-old car nuts and auto body shop owner, I’ve bought a 2017 Cherokee Trailhawk full-load when they were new, this is the best all around vehicle I ever owned, the V-6 producing 271 hp and 239 lb-ft of torque, and along with the tow group with 3.517 ratio differential and a ZF first gear ratio of 4.70 , and even at 4,200 pound weight, it make it very fast for street drag race, and also for passing cars on the highway, it is also very economical at around 25 mpg on highway trip and 15 mpg in deep snow off-road trails. Now for the commodities;premium comfort and luxes, panoramic sun/moon roof, incredible 4×4 and rock climbing abilities, and both my wife and I are still in love with its “polarizing” front end look, thanks god we don’t all like the same women type’s…!!
I know very little about many of the cars mentioned but I will chime in on two.
1) The Camaro had gotten so small and squinty looking that it no longer seemed like a real Camaro. Therefore I will not miss it.
2) However, I will certainly miss the Challenger. A car with a distinctive yet retro look. Stellantis is missing the boat by ending production of the Challenger and the Charger. But what can one expect from an Indian company?
An “Indian” company? Good thing cars from companies in Germany, Italy, US, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Korea, Mexico etc. never “miss the boat”. I’m impressed that it took all the way to page 3 for the first blatantly racist comment to appear. Happy Holidays everyone, remember to hate on thy neighbor!!
Indian company?
I’ve never driven the current gen Camaro, but everyone I know who has has come away unimpressed – difficult to get in and out of, difficult to see anything once you’re in, and abysmally cheap interior.
Sorry, but the cars that died natural deaths would never, never interest me, and the ones you lament likewise because of the price. Also I wonder what these rides have to do with the collectible crowd? Are you all about new iron, or what? If I can’t ‘build’ it, it isn’t worth my time. New topic:
Great list. It sure seems like the modern muscle car era is waning, with just Mustang holding on, for now.
But I have to disagree with the MX-30 on the “not missed” list. MX are Mazda experimental models. Some make it to market as we all Miata know, but others are just that–experiments. I applaud Mazda for the MX-30. It was sold in a very limited market as a way for Mazda to learn more about EV production and viability. There are many people who never venture more than 100 miles in a day from home. Maybe there’s a market segment there and maybe not. Had it been a mass-market offering, then sure, Mazda would deserve the ridicule. But as an experiment, it was a worthwhile venture.
Biggest (unnamed) blooper of all: Applying the “Mustang” name to an electric blimp. What were they thinking?
For those who missed their shot at a Camaro, may I humbly recommend the Cadillac CT4V built on the same platform? Obviously different curb/sex appeal, but comparable driving experience, especially in the Blackwing flavor with a six-speed tranny. A lot roomier and easier to see out of also. I recently “graduated” from a C7 ‘Vette to a CT4V Blackwing and couldn’t be more pleased.
…but you’ll need to get one soon; the setting sun is on the horizon for these as well.
Just stopping in to laugh at all of the butt hurt stinger fans out there good grief guys. At least there’s a new segment of the car population who now know what it’s like to be the Mopar fan the past 5 decades. Always the underdog and under appreciated. Those stingers are cute little cars. I’ve seen a few behind my Cayenne Turbo, right after I beat them up and stole their lunch money.
The TT will be missed but of real interest is the TT RS. Approx 1000 sent to NA from 2012-2013, all coupes with manuals and the iconic 5cyl that Audi is known for.. The last gen TT RS continued the 5 cyl legacy but unfortunately dropped the manual trans. Certain GEN 1 TT’s (manuals, 225hp and special editions) and GEN II TT RS will become low to mid priced collectibles at some point. The 5cyl is a gem of an engine though even if you have take an auto with it in the newer ones.
Cherokee will be truly missed. 2018 v6 28mpg, great leather interior, great looks.
Makes my 2014 bmw wagon look like crap.
100k miles, just changed original tires. Never had 1 issue, just changed oil & rotated tires.
Trailhawk!
Awesome car!
Lots of interesting comments I guess opinions are as they say like a$$ holes mine too!
I bought my daughter a Renegade and it has turned out to be a good car, they where well priced without all the extras. Got a surprising great trade in value on her Dart. I knew a couple of people that owed Renegades and loved them although not my daughters first choice she wanted a Wrangler JK that I wasn’t about to buy or make huge payments on. I have owned my Challenger R/T since new 09 and still love it especially the lifetime warranty although it has been pretty trouble fee for a daily driver. I think the Challenger, Charger and 300 have been good cars overall yes I have had all three. They have enough room for all to be pretty comfortable and reliable long running series of cars. Gonna be hard to argue with the overall success of the platform. Has really outlasted many different brands just have to wonder what Mopar will bring next to capture our attention that is affordable. Not everyone can buy a 100K TRX or Challenger but still wants some performance and maybe room for a family. Some may not like the Challenger but it is far better than this Mitsubishi things they put the Challenger name on in late 70’s early 80’s they didn’t look or act like a Challenger in any way! A long running platform always has plenty of parts to keep it going weather it’s junkyard parts or aftermarket or NOS just saying. Merry Christmas everyone no matter what you drive!
So sad about the Jeep Renegade, I am relieved that the Compass is sticking around though. I own a first-year Compass and I love it. It makes me happy that they haven’t changed that much over the years even between 1st and 2nd generation (not to mention surprisingly mod-able).
I have a 2019 Cherokee and love it. I have had little to no problems with this car. It might just be the best car I ever owned and I’ve owned many being 65. Also note that I’m a retired mechanic from over 40 years of turning wrenches.