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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