I maggiori flop di vendite in UK degli ultimi 10 anni secondo Autocar

[Touareg 2.5]

Here, we list the worst of them:

Renault Vel Satis

On sale: 2002-2005

Price: £21,195-£31,325

Sales target: 3500 annually

Sales achieved: 595 peak in 2002, 1404 total

Taking on BMW, Mercedes and Audi is ambitious, taking them on in their heartland is bolder still and doing it with your weaponry compromised is downright reckless. But compromised (to say the least) was the Vel Satis, most obviously by over-sized headlamps and angled, egg-crate grilles that made it look narked, as well it might with its fat rump and back-flipping C-pillars. And this in an era when Renault’s styling was on good form.

Verdict: Lumpy looks and a lumpy ride, for both the occupants and its maker.

Fiat Croma

On sale: 2005-2008

Price: £15,745-£19,345

Sales target: 5000-6000 annually

Sales achieved: 827 peak in 2006, 1386 total

The best crossovers combine a canny blend of features from various breeds and gift wrap them with a flourish; think Nissan Qashqai or Skoda Yeti. But for an example of how not to do it, remember the 2005 Fiat Croma, a tall estate whose arrival stood out like a raindrop in a thunderstorm.

Verdict: Roomy enough to ring with the echo of wailing Fiat execs, but…

Peugeot 1007

On sale: 2005-2008

Price: £10,850-£12,600

Sales target: 17,000 annually

Sales achieved: 3493 peak in 2006, 8036 total

Lazy electric rear sliding doors, excess heft, weak engines, cramped rear quarters and a tiny boot punched holes in Peugeot’s hopes for this novel city car, which departed British showrooms after only three years.

Verdict: Novel, but tripped up by sensible-shoes styling and a troubled door policy.

Maybach 57/62

On sale: 2003-present

Price: £263,137-£345,687

Sales target: Not revealed

Sales achieved: 23 peak in 2004, 89 to date

Uber-saloon looks like a cross between an S-class and a stretched Rover 75, but without the elegance.

Verdict: What happens when beating your rival gets out of hand.

Alfa Romeo Spider

On sale: 2006-present

Price: £26,895-£32,395

Sales target: Not revealed

Sales achieved: 746 peak in 2007, 1616 to date

Overweight and underpowered, with a somewhat flexible chassis.

Verdict: Sold moderately for two seasons before fading like a firework.

Seat Toledo

On sale: 2005-2009

Price: £13,350-£18,100

Sales target: At least 2500 annually

Sales achieved: 1853 peak in 2005, 3264 total

The bustle-booted Toledo was essentially the same car as the Seat Altea, but with a distended rear end whose presence was easy to spot but hard to fathom.

Verdict: Painful proof that bigger really isn’t better.

Vauxhall Signum

On sale: 2003-2008

Price: £17,995-£28,750

Sales target: 8000 annually

Sales achieved: 5501 peak in 2004, 17,367 total

Even Vauxhall struggled to explain what the Signum was for.

Verdict: Cars with foggy reasons to exist tend to find few buyers.

Dodge Avenger

On sale: 2007-2009

Price: £16,500-£18,400

Sales target: Not revealed

Sales achieved: 732 peak in 2008, 1138 total

These days there are few truly dire cars out there, but this was one.

Verdict: Launched 2007, deleted 2009 - enough already of this abomination.

Jaguar X-Type

On sale: 2001-2009

Price: £21,558-£32,080

Sales target: Not revealed

Sales achieved: 20,889 peak in 2004, 120,930 total

Hampered by a limited range, unconvincing retro styling and the fact that too many people knew it was based on a Ford Mondeo.

Verdict: A good idea misguidedly executed on inappropriate hardware. Died in 2009.

Fiat Stilo

On sale: 2002-2007

Price: £10,064-£16,995

Sales target: Not revealed

Sales achieved: 15,166 peak in ’02, 44,507 total

Fiat tried to build a Latin Golf with the five-door Stilo, but ended up with an updated Austin Maestro.

Verdict: Semi-decent early sales, vanishing like a sandcastle at high tide in 2004

Mercedes-Benz R-Class

On sale: 2006-present

Price: £38,780-£42,910

Sales target: 1800 annually

Sales achieved: 1154 peak in 2006, 3052 to date

Too hulking to appeal to anyone not blessed with a six-lane highway outside their front gate.

Verdict: A great big cross-pollination of an idea that failed to germinate.

Subaru Tribeca

On sale: 2006-2008

Price: £28,595-£33,490

Sales target: 1000 annually

Sales achieved: 277 peak in 2007, 746 total

A nightmare grille was just one of the B9 Tribeca’s troubles; mediocrity in too many other departments was another.

Verdict: That astounding grille couldn’t have helped. Way off target.

Nissan Primera

On sale: 2002-2006

Price: £12,795-£21,850

Sales target: 24,000 annually

Sales achieved: 13,511 peak in 2002, 47,093 total

Instead of hiding an excellent chassis and powertrain beneath dull, Euro-Nippon styling, Nissan eased back on dynamics and went for a radical look.

Verdict: Odd styling helped to kill Nissan’s aspirations in this class

Peugeot 407 Coupe

On sale 2005-current

Price £18,045-£27,490

Sales target: 2500 in 2006

Sales achieved: 1250 peak in 2007, 3173 to date

The 406 Coupé was much admired - the bigger, pricier, edging-towards-ugly 407 Coupé has proved a resounding miss.

Verdict: Too big, expensive and not pretty enough to sell like its predecessor.

Renault Avantime

On sale: 2002-2003

Price: £24,050-£28,450

Sales target: 1500 annually

Sales achieved: 300 peak in 2002, 448 total

Renault truly lived up to its occasional reputation for weird cars with this: a rebodied, two-door Espace with no rear leg room.

Verdict: Great, but too bold for its own good. In effect, it was a limited edition.

Smart Roadster/smart Coupe

On sale: 2003-2006

Price: £10,030-£17,905

Sales target: 7000 combined annually

Sales achieved: 3383 peak in 2004, 7449 total

A desperately frustrating automated manual gearbox, a chassis that was set up for understeer and a strangely styled nose doomed an intriguing sportster.

Verdict: Snared by high prices and a clunky transmission. Not so smart, then…

[Matteo B.]

sulla smart roadster no perchè facendo uno swap di motore/trasmissione (cessosi) imho è un bel macchinino per fare le gimkane

[<angel84>]

Sono d'accordo con la lista.

[rudolph]

Ho qualche dubbio sulla Croma, non è peggio di tante altri barconi.

Sono macchine, come la Stilo, che non sono belle ma se vuoi spendere poco per un'auto ben rifinita e che va fai degli affari.

[alettone75]

Ho qualche dubbio sulla Croma, non è peggio di tante altri barconi.

Sono macchine, come la Stilo, che non sono belle ma se vuoi spendere poco per un'auto ben rifinita e che va fai degli affari.

caro rudolph io personalmente non ho nessun dubbio sulla Croma, secondo me era difficile fare peggio perchè non è che abbiano sbagliato dei particolari no li hanno sbagliato proprio le proporzioni tra altezza e larghezza e l'auto risulta irrimediabilmente goffa e non c'è restiling che tenga... è un vero peccato perchè qualitativamente è una buona auto... quante bestemmie...

[Stefano73]

Intendono flop di mercato?......vedo che si riferiscono alle vendite inglesi e thesis non ha mai avuto la guida a destra altrimenti ci stava dentro alla grande come un altra beniamina del forum la volvo s30

[led zeppelin]

caro rudolph io personalmente non ho nessun dubbio sulla Croma, secondo me era difficile fare peggio perchè non è che abbiano sbagliato dei particolari no li hanno sbagliato proprio le proporzioni tra altezza e larghezza e l'auto risulta irrimediabilmente goffa e non c'è restiling che tenga... è un vero peccato perchè qualitativamente è una buona auto... quante bestemmie...

croma prima serie era orrenda, ma secondo me dopo il restyling è migliorata moltissimo al punto da essere quasi bella per me:oops:.

[rudolph]

croma prima serie era orrenda, ma secondo me dopo il restyling è migliorata moltissimo al punto da essere quasi bella per me:oops:.

Ci sono auto che si comprano per rapporto qualità/prezzo e ci rientrano di sicuro la croma e la stilo.

Un mio amico ne ha presa una sw a km 0, l'ha pagata una cifra ridicola e si trova benissimo; a me hanno offerto una croma "aziendale" di 16 mesi con 21000 km, 1.9 da 150cv a 15000 euro voltura compresa (listino quasi 30000), confesso che ci ho pensato, mi ha fermato la lunghezza (non mi ci stava in garage insieme alltra auto) ed il motore euro 4.

[nucarote]

Più che la lista delle più brutte è la lista dei flop degli ultimi 10 anni in GB.

Da questa lista, salverei solo la X-Type, che per quanto sia una Mondeo con l'annessa bestemmia del 2.0D e della orrida SW, la trovo ancora affascinante e particolare, da guidare con gli occhiali alla Califano :D e la Smart Roadster auto non adatta ai tempi di oggi.

[Marko80]

Io la Croma la salverei, è vero che ha un aspetto molto goffo ma a me è sembrata veramente molto comoda, molto spaziosa e con un bel bagagliaio, io la farei entrare nella categoria delle auto "oneste": bruttine ma funzionali.

La Stilo invece è inguardabile.