Due to force majeure such as the epidemic and chip shortage, in 2022, intermittent temporary production stoppages have become commonplace, but there are also several cars that are really going to be discontinued for a long time.
Citroen C1
At the end of January, the mini car was officially discontinued with the completion of the last Citroën C1 in the Czech factory.
The Citroen C1 was born in 2005 and is on the same platform as the Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo, with cumulative sales of more than 1.2 million units in the European market.
Citroen said the discontinuation of C1 was due to "new mobility challenges" for small cars, including urban traffic conditions and energy transitions, coupled with stringent emission regulations and safety standards for new cars, making it difficult for automakers to offer affordable fuel models in small cars.
In addition, the Peugeot 108, which is manufactured on the same platform, has long been announced to be discontinued, and their successor will be two miniature pure electric models Citroën ami.
Volkswagen Passat US version
In January this year, following the suspension of the European version of volkswagen passat, the last American version of volkswagen passat was also rolled off the production line at the Chattanooga plant in Tennessee, which means that the American version of Volkswagen Passat "Passat" was officially discontinued.
The Passat is one of Volkswagen's most iconic models and a long-standing mainstay midsize sedan. The Volkswagen Passat first entered the U.S. market in 1974 and sold more than 1.8 million vehicles in 48 years.
However, with the popularity of SUVs, Passat sales began to decline, due to poor sales, Volkswagen has previously announced that Passat will withdraw from the US market in 2023, but because the Passat sales in 2021 are only 24,400 units, Volkswagen decided to discontinue the car early.
Audi A1, Q2
Earlier, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said in an interview: Audi will focus on creating higher profitable luxury models in the future, and after the end of the product cycle, Audi A1 and Q2 will not have successor models.
The Audi A1 was born in 2010 and subsequently entered the Chinese market as an importer, while the Audi Q2 went into mass production in 2016 as the brand's first small SUV, which was localized by FAW-Volkswagen in 2018.
The price of Audi A1 and Q2 is relatively low, it is not a volume of models, it cannot bring greater profits to Audi, coupled with the conflict with the brand's high-end development plan, it is logical to stop production.
BMW i3
The BMW i3 debuted in 2013 as BMW's first pure electric vehicle model, making BMW the first "forerunner" in the field of new energy among traditional car companies at that time.
Officials said that the life cycle of the BMW i3 is coming to an end, and it will be officially discontinued in July 2022, with 9 years of service, and the car has delivered about 250,000 units worldwide.
In fact, the BMW i3 has previously stopped supplying the North American and Australian markets, and currently only supplies some European and Asian countries.
In the domestic market, the model name of the BMW i3 is expected to continue to be retained and applied to the BMW 3 Series pure electric model.
smart EQ forfour
The first-generation forfour, sold between 2004 and 2006, is a long-shaft version of the popular fortwo and the first four-door model of the Smart brand.
In 2017, the electric version of forfour Electric Drive was launched, in 2019, Smart transformed into an electric vehicle brand, suspending the production of fuel models, and in 2019, forfour Electric Drive launched a small remodeled model and renamed EQ forfour.
Officials said that the smart EQ forfour has been officially discontinued in December 2021, and only the two-door version of the smart EQ fortwo model will be retained in the future.
Lexus CT
Lexus CT will be officially discontinued worldwide in October 2022. First unveiled in Geneva in 2010, the car is lexus' entry-level model, positioning itself as a compact hatchback.
CT this car has not been replaced since its listing, only in 2014 there was a mid-term modification, the use of more than a decade of the old platform, the product force is somewhat backward, and with the change of consumer concepts, more consumers began to pay attention to the ride space, Lexus CT gradually lost the market.
Due to poor sales performance, the Lexus CT was delisted in the United States in 2017, and it was discontinued after the domestic update to 2020 models.
As Lexus' new energy models continued to be introduced, the entry-level model, which had been selling less than ideally, stopped updating and eventually stopped production worldwide.
Rolls-Royce Phantom, Shadow
The Phantom and Shadow have always been the façade of the Rolls-Royce coupe series, but by 2023, the two sports cars will also be officially discontinued, and there will be no replacement products.
In fact, as early as 2021, with the completion of the production work of the previous order, the phantom and the shadow have been withdrawn from the PRODUCT line in the United States.
Moreover, Rolls-Royce announced that from 2030 onwards, the production and sales of internal combustion engine models will no longer be carried out, which means that Rolls-Royce will only have electric vehicles in the future.
After the suspension of the two sports cars, the Phantom and the Shadow, the Spectre (Shining) pure electric sports car will fill the gap in the market.