The forgotten cars: Australia’s box-office flops | Drive Flashback

Story originally published in Drive on 17 February, 2007

Some cars defy logic. On the surface they have all the credentials for sales success – a sharp price, loads of equipment and a well-known and respected name behind them.

But somehow, despite all the positives, a car misses the target with the most important market – prospective customers.

These are the cars that give marketing executives ulcers. In marketing speak, they fail to get "traction".

Translation: not many people buy them.

This week we look at the cars buyers forgot, the automotive equivalents of box-office flops.

The good news for buyers is if you're prepared to go the route less travelled, you may pick up a competent vehicle at a bargain price.

The Maxima is a Japanese-built alternative to the Holden Calais or Ford Fairmont Ghia.

Smaller than the Australian-built executive expresses, the Nissan has failed to make a dent in the corporate car park.

The Maxima found just 1500 buyers last year, about 500 less than Toyota's petrol-electric hybrid niche car, the Prius.

Sales were down almost 50 per cent on the year before, suggesting a nameplate sliding towards anonymity.

This has observers perplexed, as the Maxima is streets ahead of its locally built rivals in terms of build quality. It also has just about the best V6 engine in the business.

The 170kW 3.5-litre V6, matched to a six-speed continuously variable transmission, is super responsive, yet refined and quiet.

The Maxima cabin is roomy and comfortable. The interior has a quality, modern look and controls are easy to use.

Safety equipment includes stability control, as well as front and side airbags on the $39,990 ST-L model and curtain airbags on the more expensive Ti, which costs $44,990.

Inside, both models are well equipped, with leather, power-adjustable driver's seat, remote keyless entry and dual-zone climate-control air-conditioning. It does not have steering wheel audio controls, which are standard on Falcons and Commodores.

The Nissan is also not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to driving. It is set up for comfort and can get floaty over bumps.

A name change is a tricky prospect in the automotive industry and history suggests car makers more often get it wrong than right.

Mitsubishi's new 380 is a case in point. Australians bought fewer 380s last year than they bought Magnas in 2005, despite the fact Magna was discontinued in September of that year.

Private buyers haven't been lining up to buy the 380, despite a huge price cut last March. Last year, the model averaged slightly more than 100 private sales a month.

The cheapest 380 you can buy now costs $27,990. At the launch late in 2005, Mitsubishi was charging $34,490.

Fear of non-existent resale values and concerns over the future of Mitsubishi have kept customers from the 380's door, but the car itself is now exceptional value.

Once you get past the slightly coarse-sounding V6 and less-than-enticing interior, the 380 is a lot of fun for the money.

It steers and handles as well as any of the locally built large cars and stays composed over bumps at highway speeds.

The car is stable and predictable on the open road, while comfortable and supportive seats make light work of longer journeys.

It doesn't have the rear leg room of a Commodore but that doesn't make it cramped. The only drawback in the cabin is some of the plastics feel a little cheap.

The 380 also lacks safety items. Curtain airbags aren't available across the range and the cheapest model does not have any traction or stability aids. More expensive models get traction control as standard but this still falls short of the class safety benchmark.

Inside, the 380 is well equipped for the bargain-basement price, with climate-control air-conditioning, cruise control, trip computer, power driver's seat and steering wheel-mounted audio controls. The only notable omission is the lack of reach adjustment on the steering wheel.

Renault has consistently struggled to make an impact on the Australian market and last year was no exception. While other French marques such as Citroen and Peugeot grew strongly last year, mainly on the back of diesel models, Renault went backwards.

The Megane is Renault's top seller in Australia but it barely scraped more than 1000 sales for the year, if you count the convertible model.

You can hardly blame the car's anonymity on its styling. In a world of bland, economical runabouts, the Megane stands out from the crowd with its pronounced, bulbous rear end.

Under the love it or hate it skin, the Megane is a very competent car.

It has an excellent reputation for safety, with five stars from the independent safety auditor European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). Standard safety gear includes stability control and six airbags.

The car is comfortable to drive around town and does a great job of soaking up bumps and potholes.

The car also has above average dynamics for its class. The top-of-the-range Megane Sport is the best handling hot hatch in the business and the standard models are almost as competent.

Unfortunately, in standard guise the engine could do with more low-down grunt. It zips along happily enough at speed but won't win any traffic light arguments.

The Megane's interior has plenty of storage space and the standard equipment list is generous for a European car but the radio and air-conditioning controls are fiddly and the dash is plain. Prices start at $25,490 for the 1.6-litre Authentique model but the 2.0-litre Expression model is a better bet at $29,990. If the budget can stretch to $42,490, the Sport will reward you in spades.

Volkswagen is the brand on the move in Australia. In a flat market last year, the German car maker's sales were up 36.7 per cent. This means it is now one of the top 10 selling automotive brands in Australia.

But not everything with a VW badge is flying out of showroom doors.

Volkswagen's first foray into off-road vehicles, the Touareg, has not hit the mark in Australia. Less than 500 people bought Touaregs last year.

This is surprising because the big VW is well-priced and handsomely equipped compared with its luxury off-road rivals.

Prices start at $64,990 for the 2.5-litre five-cylinder diesel, with V6 petrol and diesel models both costing $74,990. There is also a fire-breathing V10 bi-turbo diesel model for $121,990. The V10 has 230kW of power and a mind-boggling 750Nm of torque.

Both the V6 engines have ample power and torque to move the Touareg's sizeable mass swiftly and the automatic transmission is smooth-shifting. Neither of them is the quietest or most refined on the block, though.

The Touareg holds the road well for such a big car. While there is inevitable body roll through corners, the steering is accurate and the car stays composed, even on corrugated surfaces. The brakes inspire further confidence, stopping the big four-wheel-drive smartly without any squirming.

However, the big, soft seats don't provide much support or bolstering. You tend to slide around a little in corners, which can be tiring.

The Touareg has a six-disc CD changer, rain-sensing wipers, dual-zone climate-control air-conditioning, front, side and curtain airbags, stability control, parking distance sensors, cruise control and automatic headlights.

Hyundai sales fell last year and the Elantra was one of the main reasons, despite the launch of a new model in September.

Sales of the small car fell by 44.1 per cent over 2005 levels.

Hyundai executives must be pulling their hair out, as the new Elantra is much better than the cars that sold like hot cakes in the past.

The South Korean car maker is fast closing the gap on the Japanese in terms of build quality and reliability.

International quality audits consistently put the brand near the top of the tree and the great leap forward shows in the build quality of the Elantra. Where previous generation Hyundais creaked, groaned and fell apart, the Elantra feels much more solid, up-market and well-built. There's also a stack of space.

The Elantra's recommended retail price is $19,990 for the manual SX model, although dealers are now discounting by at least $1000. An automatic transmission costs $2000.

Standard equipment on the base model includes air-conditioning, anti-lock brakes, power windows and mirrors, an alarm and two front airbags. For an extra $1790 you can fit the SX with side and curtain airbags and stability control.

The SLX is $22,490 and gives you cruise control, side and curtain airbags and audio controls on the steering wheel. Stability control is $990 extra.

The Elantra's 105kW 2.0-litre engine can be a little noisy under acceleration but is quiet enough on the highway.

The Achilles heel remains the Elantra's handling, which is below par for the class.

On the plus side, Elantra comes with a five-year, 130,000-kilometre warranty.

For from being bad cars (and one SUV), these ‘box office flops’, as Drive somewhat unkindly labelled them back in 2007, actually served as a pointer to a wider malaise – the decline in traditional passenger cars.

In 2006, passenger cars accounted for 62.7 per cent of the overall market while SUVs remained a relatively niche segment, contributing just 17.7 per cent to overall new car sales.

But, while the disparity looks large, the sales of passengers ‘cars’; was already in decline at the same as sales of SUVs continued to grow.

The decline started as a trickle, rarely more than two or three per cent per year. But by 2016, the trickle had become a flood, as passenger cars stood at the precipice, its 41.3 per cent market share just ahead of the 37.4 per cent enjoyed by SUVs.

The following year, cars jumped off the cliff, their 37.8 per cent share eclipsed for the first time by the increasingly popular armada of SUVs (39.2). It was the start of a landslide.

Just five years later, in 2022, passenger cars made up less than 20 per cent of new car sales (18.5) while SUVs accounted for over half (53.1) of every new vehicle sold in Australia. Even the tradies’ limo of choice, the humble ute, outsold passenger cars, accounting for 21.2 per cent of the total market.

It’s a trend that shows no sign of abating.