Automakers spend billions trying to predict the next big thing, and sometimes, that’s a dangerous game. As machines such as the Mercedes R-Class and the Porsche Mission X show us below, ambitious projects aiming to spark industry trends are sometimes stifled by poor timing, botched rollouts, or buyers who aren’t impressed.
1997 Plymouth / Chrysler Prowler
The Retro Roadster That Never Reached Its Full Potential
One of the ultimate 1990s poster cars, the Plymouth Prowler had a messy, chaotic launch that can get new products off to a dreadful start. First launched for 1997, the Prowler initially featured a 3.5‑liter V6 with 214 horsepower. That wasn’t enough, and reviewers and owners alike expected more “go” to match the hot-rod-inspired visual “show.” After a year back at the drawing board, a newly upgraded V6 made 253 hp instead. It still wasn’t enough. In fact, an entire aftermarket popped up around Plymouth Prowler V8 engine swaps, since the factory never offered one.
After the initial launch, disappointment, power boost, and subsequent disappointment to follow, it was game over for the Prowler. After all, Plymouth was basically selling entry‑level fleet and family models in this era, mostly by way of the Neon and Voyager. The Plymouth brand passed away in 2001, forcing an awkward rebrand of the Prowler to “Chrysler” for its final year of existence. Though it failed to launch a retro hot‑rod roadster trend, the Plymouth Prowler will forever have a place in the history books as one of the most daring styling exercises the industry has ever seen.
2002 Lincoln Blackwood
The Right Idea, The Wrong Way To Do It
The Lincoln Blackwood was a spectacular misstep and failed to launch the trend it was hoping to: an ultra‑luxury pickup truck. In 2002 at its launch, the US market wasn’t yet ready to spend luxury‑brand money on their pickup trucks, but Lincoln didn’t seem to care. Instead, they launched the ultra‑luxury Blackwood, moved about 3,356 units, and moved unsold units at steep discounts as they languished on dealer lots.
At the time, Lincoln’s bread and butter in US showrooms were traditional American luxury staples like the big and cozy Town Car and the smash‑hit Navigator SUV. A botched launch for the Blackwood delayed initial deliveries, and customers weren’t appreciating the carpeted, stainless‑lined bed or the idea of a pickup that couldn’t pick up.
In fact, by the time the Blackwood rolled into showrooms dead on arrival with rear‑wheel drive only, the Cadillac Escalade EXT had already arrived with standard AWD, real utility, and loads of momentum. Cadillac took the sales crown. The Escalade EXT went on to sell for two full generations, essentially defining the early luxury truck trend in front of competitor Lincoln’s failure.
Today, luxury trucks are much more mainstream, and they mostly come from top trim levels of machines well established for capability, not one‑off badge‑engineering efforts that have proven ineffective in this scene.
2002 Ford Thunderbird
The Resurrected T-Bird Failed To Live Up To Its Initial Hype
Launched in the US for 2002 and dropped in 2005 with no successor, the resurrected Thunderbird used a Jaguar‑derived 3.9L AJ‑V8 producing 252 hp in 2002 and 280 hp for 2003-2005. In this era, Ford sales were almost entirely fueled by light‑truck and family‑hauler models like the F‑150, Taurus, and Explorer.
Ford pushed back the initial rollout of the 11th-generation T‑Bird due to last‑minute issues with cooling fans and transmission overheating, making hungry shoppers wait just a little longer to get their hands on one. When the Thunderbird finally trickled into dealerships, massive markups dampened the initial hysteria as the jiggly, cowl‑shaking convertible structure and cheap interior trimmings quickly cooled demand.
The Thunderbird ultimately became another example of an early‑2000s retro revival that couldn’t deliver on its initial hype. Like the Plymouth Prowler and Chevrolet SSR, it tried to spark a trend built around nostalgic styling and a top-optional experience at a time when mainstream buyers were shifting hard away from big-dollar sedans and coupes toward high-profit trucks and SUVs. Even with the power of the legendary Thunderbird nameplate behind it, this retro re-launch lacked the momentum required for long-term survival, as the market changed around it at a rapid pace.
2004 Chevrolet SSR
It Wasn’t A Great Truck, Or A Great Convertible
Plymouth botched a potential trend-starting retro roadster, and Chevrolet wasn’t far behind with an intended convertible pickup that would follow shortly after. The SSR arrived for 2004 and lasted until 2006, with unsold units squatting at dealerships for ages. The SSR was a retro pickup-roadster mashup, though it also had an underwhelming 5.3-liter V8 engine with just 300 hp when it first hit the road.
Unlike the Prowler, this convertible was a big, heavy pickup truck under the skin, but you probably wouldn’t be using it for much getting dirty. A larger 6.0-liter V8 and manual came later, giving shoppers an exciting driveline that was weighed down by the truck parts beneath, and further by the convertible roof. The result was a big, thirsty vehicle that wasn’t a very good convertible, or a very good pickup truck.
2004 Volkswagen Phaeton
A Good Vehicle, But Not Right For VW
The Volkswagen Phaeton was a sort of pet project curated by the brand’s eccentric CEO, Ferdinand Piëch, who personally oversaw its development toward lofty engineering targets which he himself set. The Phaeton was less about putting a mass‑market luxury flagship into production to sell a lot of copies, and more about elevating Volkswagen’s reputation for engineering excellence to help the brand sell more of its bread-and-butter models. With the Phaeton, Volkswagen created a big-dollar flagship that skipped generations of luxury pedigree and used engineering excellence as its key draw.
Launched in 2004 in the US and pulled after 2006, the Phaeton never quite found the audience it was built for. However, the sedan found a bit more success elsewhere in the world, with production lasting until 2016.
Volkswagen’s initial attempt to build a mainstream‑branded S‑Class competitor was an early but doomed attempt at the same approach. Unlike the ultra‑posh sedans it benchmarked, the Phaeton was built by a brand known for Jettas and Beetles, not nearly six‑figure luxury. Volkswagen’s network also wasn’t set up to deliver the dealership experience six‑figure shoppers expected, so they mostly kept buying Mercedes-Benz and Audi models instead.
2006 Honda Ridgeline
Shoppers Weren’t Quite Sure What To Make Of It
Introduced in the US for 2006 and discontinued in 2014 ahead of a 2017 second‑generation redesign, the original Honda Ridgeline ran a highly proven 3.5‑liter SOHC VTEC V6, giving drivers a familiar engine with predictable costs in an innovative unibody pickup offering. When the Ridgeline launched, Honda was doing big volume on practical, fuel‑efficient front‑wheel‑drive passenger cars and crossovers like the Accord and CR‑V. The Ridgeline was meant to extend that formula to a pickup that prioritized comfort, refinement, and everyday usability over chart-topping capability metrics.
Early adopters helped move plenty of units into driveways. However, skeptical truck buyers harshly scrutinized the first-generation Ridgeline for its integrated cab and lack of ladder‑frame construction favored for toughness, off‑road ride quality, and towing. The Ridgeline’s unibody structure and styling cues meant it wasn’t quite enough of a truck for the core pickup audience in the US at the time, who were typically buying Tacomas, Frontiers, and Colorados instead. Result? A pickup truck that appealed to people who didn’t normally buy trucks, but not a pickup truck that was going to convert many traditional buyers into Honda customers.
The second‑generation model returned in 2017 with more conventional styling and a clearer pitch. However, its predecessor shows how timing and shopper expectations can make or break a trendsetting new product.
2007 Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG
Buyers Didn’t Want A Luxury, Performance Minivan
Building a rocket‑propelled minivan is a pretty cool idea, and one that’s been experimented with in concept form at least once. Mercedes‑Benz brought a high‑performance minivan to production for the 2007 model year as the R63 AMG. Mercedes discontinued it almost immediately, with only about 200 reportedly leaving the factory. Powered by a hand‑built 6.2‑liter M156 naturally aspirated V8 with 503 hp, the R63 might have become trendier if it had been positioned as a true halo oddball within the AMG lineup.
Trouble was, the R63 wasn’t intended to be a volume product, interest in minivans was tanking in general, and the project became known internally as more of an engineering flex than a strategic AMG expansion. Engineers wanted to prove that the new M156 V8 could be packaged into almost anything in the lineup – sedans, coupes, SUVs, and even the most unconventional platform Mercedes sold at the time. That made the R63 a technical exercise rather than a fully supported showroom product, meaning most dealers didn’t keep them in stock, weren’t trained to sell them, and weren’t incentivized to push them.
The result? The R63 was an extremely low‑volume glimpse at what an ultra‑high‑performance minivan might look like in another dimension. In this one, it arrived at a moment when the minivan segment was collapsing, and the entire R‑Class model line was discontinued after the 2012 model year.
Surprisingly, Mercedes is taking another stab at the minivan market in the US with the introduction of the new VLE-Class.
2017 Mercedes-Benz X-Class
Shoppers Wanted A Mercedes Pickup, Not A Rebadged Nissan
Mercedes‑Benz first revealed the X‑Class pickup in 2017, just as US shoppers were buying record numbers of conventional luxury unibody crossovers and premium sedans like the C‑Class, E‑Class, and GLC and GLE SUVs. The X‑Class never reached North America, and lived a short life elsewhere before being scrapped in May 2020 after selling roughly 32,000 units.
The X-Class lacked the credentials to establish the foothold a modern trendsetter needs, instead reworking an existing Nissan Navara pickup platform into a product that couldn’t quite convince owners it was a real Mercedes-Benz. That’s the exact sentiment we’ve seen flunk other luxury up-badges like the Lincoln Mark LT before it.
Mercedes also lacked credibility in the pickup space, which had plenty of established competitors. There were even a few models pushing into the luxury segment. Shoppers kept spending more on luxury 4x4s than ever, but the X-Class never got in on the trend.
2023 BMW XM
The Flagship Performance SUV Trend Didn’t Pan Out
The BMW XM launched as a flagship performance SUV in the US for 2023, and is slated for termination by 2028 with no plans for a successor. Ultimately, this range‑topping technological and performance showpiece was trying to create a halo product out of the wrong type of vehicle: a plug-in hybrid SUV. It housed the brand’s most advanced powertrain, chassis, and performance systems, but its massive curb weight broke with BMW M’s tradition of lightweight engineering.
Inventory started to pile up, and before long, units were sold at heavy discounts before BMW announced the XM’s discontinuation. As we’ve seen from other examples on your page, failing to get that all-important initial foothold in the market can spell the end of the line for a trendsetting new model right out of the gate.
2023 Porsche Mission X
Low EV Demand Caused This Supercar To Go Back On The Shelf
Porsche revealed the Mission X concept in 2023 as an interpretation of a possible future electric hypercar with Le Mans-inspired doors and a high-performance, high-efficiency electric driveline. At its launch, Porsche Chairman Oliver Blume described the concept as a “beacon of the sports car of the future” that would pick up the torch of “iconic sports cars of decades past: like the 959, the Carrera GT and the 918 Spyder before it.”
This might have been the next in a line of trendy, extreme-performance supercars for the automaker, maybe even delivering 1,500 horsepower. Still, it launched in an era when uncertainty was mounting around the future of the EV, and Porsche’s electric future hadn’t yet faced its biggest hurdles. When the Mission X concept dropped, Porsche was still mostly selling combustion-powered SUVs and sports cars led overwhelmingly by the volume-heavy Macan and Cayenne alongside the 911. This came as demand for EV’s was dropping, adoption was slowing, and resales were falling as an industry-wide EV reality check set in. Meanwhile, Ferrari and Lamborghini doubled down on electrified, high-output hybrid and naturally aspirated V-12 engines instead.
Within two years of the Mission X’s announcement, Porsche would be reconsidering its all-electric future as this concept sat on the shelf.
Sources: Autocar, Automotive News
