Farewell Acura NSX, Nissan Rogue Sport, Lamborghini Aventador, and Toyota Avalon.
The checkered flag is waving for a number of vehicles after the 2022 model year. It’s time to bid farewell to fuel-sipping economy cars such as the Chevrolet Spark and Hyundai Accent, and supercars including the Acura NSX, Ford GT, and Lamborghini Aventador.
Not even functional little work vans are safe, as witnessed by the demise of the Ford Transit Connect and the Ram ProMaster City. Granted, the loss of a Lambo motivated by a 769-horsepower V-12 hits home a little harder than the snub-nosed ProMaster City. But hey, in the automotive world beauty is more than skin deep—just try getting plumbing supplies or plywood into a Lambo!
Keep reading to see the cars and trucks that won’t see the 2023 model year.
Acura ILX
The arrival of the 2023 Acura Integra marked the final nail in the aging Acura ILX sedan’s coffin. Whereas the Integra shares its underpinnings with the latest 11th-generation Honda Civic, the ILX sat on the bones of the ninth-gen Civic. Arguably, the ILX should have seen the white light when Honda revealed the 10th-generation Civic. Nonetheless, its time has finally come.
Acura NSX
Acura ended production of its NSX with a bang. In its final outing, the NSX received the Type S treatment that, among other things, sees the gasoline-electric supercar’s output increase from 573 horsepower to an even 600. Acura built just 350 NSX Type S hybrids before closing the book on the second-gen NSX.
Buick Encore
After nearly a decade of sales, Buick is pulling the plug on its Encore subcompact SUV for 2023. Frankly, it’s surprising the Encore lasted this long given it has shared showroom space with the similarly sized Encore GX since the 2020 model year.
Chevrolet Spark
With a starting price of $14,595, the 2022 Chevrolet Spark was among the least expensive new cars available in America. While its two-passenger bench rear seat was not especially spacious and made the Spark a poor choice for hauling passengers around, the little Chevy at least packed a surprisingly stout list of standard features, including a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system that was both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible. The Spark’s 98-hp four-cylinder engine, however, was an underwhelming performer.
Chevrolet Trax
The Chevrolet Trax subc0mpact SUV takes a one-year hiatus before returning to the bow-tie brand’s lineup for 2024. Whereas the 2022 model packed a 155-hp turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four with standard front-wheel drive and available all-wheel drive, the upcoming 2024 Trax relies strictly on a 137-hp turbocharged 1.2-liter inline-three for motivation and exclusively sends that power to the front wheels. It seems the all-wheel-drive Trax is no more, but the Trax itself will continue to live, even if it disappears for 2023.
Ford GT
With a starting price of around $500,000, the Ford GT was a 660-hp tribute to the Ford GT40 racers of the 1960s that stormed their way to four victories at Le Mans. A mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 powered the supercar and was capable of pushing it to a top speed of more than 200 mph, per Ford. Throughout its six model years, the GT was offered in a variety of special edition guises. The last of those was a special LM Edition to honor the automaker’s endurance racing successes.
Ford Transit Connect
The small Ford Transit Connect van clocks out for the last time at the end of the 2022 model year. Available in either cargo van or passenger van configurations, the front-drive Transit Connect attempted to simultaneously appeal to compact truck and minivan buyers.
It seemingly satisfied neither. The return of the Ranger and the new smaller Maverick had more appeal to truck intenders. And Ford still lacks a minivan option, it seems content to leave passenger-ferrying duties to the three-row Explorer and Expedition SUVs.
Honda Insight
Despite it bearing the Insight moniker, Honda’s compact hybrid sedan was little more than a Civic sedan with model-specific styling cues. It seems Honda is set to embrace this reality, as it waved the Insight off in order to launch a new Civic Hybrid.
Hyundai Accent
While it could never be accused of getting pulses racing with its performance or design, the no-nonsense Hyundai Accent proved an affable and affordable subcompact sedan option. Unfortunately, it seems sales failed to reflect this, as Hyundai kicks the Accent to the curb for 2023. This comes in spite of the little sedan earning a spot on our 2022 Editors’ Choice list.
Hyundai Ioniq
The gasoline-electric Hyundai Ioniq gets shown the door for 2023. The hatchback, which offered hybrid and plug-in-hybrid powertrain options, joined its battery-electric sibling, which Hyundai killed off following the 2021 model year.
Though the Ioniq itself is no more, its nameplate lives on as Hyundai’s battery-electric subbrand, which includes vehicles such as the Ioniq 5 SUV and the upcoming Ioniq 6 sedan.
Hyundai Veloster
The majority of the Hyundai Veloster line was axed at the end of the 2021 model year. The 275-hp Veloster N, however, managed to make it to 2022. Now, it, too, is dead.
The funky three-door hot hatch may have struggled to find buyers, but those who took the chance on the Veloster N were sure to love it. After all, there’s a reason we named it to our 2022 Editors’ Choice list.
Infiniti Q60
Infiniti deals a death blow to its Q60 coupe, which fails to see the 2023 model year. Though it offered up to 400 horsepower from its twin-turbo V-6 in Red Sport 400 guise, the Q60’s powertrain and its styling failed to entice enough coupe buyers to convince the brand’s bean counters it was worth keeping this two-door around for another year.
Jeep Grand Cherokee WK
Despite the arrival of a new two-row Jeep Grand Cherokee for the 2022 model year, the outgoing version stuck around for a little longer as the Grand Cherokee WK. Starting at $38,575, the base Grand Cherokee WK undercut the starting sum of its Grand Cherokee stablemate by $1545. Without the WK to hold down the low end of the lineup, the 2023 Grand Cherokee family now requires a minimum of $41,995 to enter.
Lamborghini Aventador
Lamborghini finally retires the Aventador after more than a decade of sales. The final batch of Aventadors bore the mark LP780-4 Ultimae. Production of this special edition of the 769-hp supercar was limited to a total of 600 units (350 coupes and 250 roadsters). The Aventador’s spirit will live on in a successor that’s due by mid-decade. Unlike the gas-only V-12 Aventador, though, the next Lamborghini flagship will incorporate a gasoline-electric powertrain.
Lamborghini Countach
We knew from the start that the seven-figure Lamborghini Countach was a one-year-only affair. Nonetheless, we still mourn its passing. With styling cribbed from Lamborghini’s iconic 1974–1990 Countach and the underpinnings of an Aventador, the Countach merged Lamborghini’s past, present, and future. The latter of which is marked by the brand’s embracement of electrification. Though the Countach’s mighty mid-mounted V-12 shared much with the unit in the Aventador, it offered one key difference: a small electric motor that drew power from a supercapacitor, helping the Countach put down a total of 802 horsepower. Look for the Aventador’s eventual replacement to incorporate a similar bit of technology.
Lexus RX L
A new generation of Lexus RX arrives for 2023, but the mid-size luxury SUV’s three-row counterpart, the RX L, was left on the dock at the end of the 2022 model year. Few will likely miss the lengthened RX that shared a wheelbase with its two-row kin. Its place in the Lexus lineup is set to be filled by an upcoming three-row SUV expected to bear the name TX.
Mercedes-Benz A-class
Mercedes-Benz drops the A-class from its 2023 model line. With a base price of $35,000, the A220 undercut the starting sum of the swoopier and more powerful CLA250 by $4250. Given the A-class and CLA-class essentially shared the same space in the Benz lineup, it wasn’t hard to predict that one of these two Mercedes sedans would get the axe. Although the A-class had a more affordable price, the low-slung looks of the CLA-class won the day.
Nissan Rogue Sport
Nissan is down an SUV for 2023, as the Japanese automaker no longer offers the Rogue Sport in its lineup. Positioned between the smaller Kicks and the larger Rogue, the Rogue Sport lived in the shadows of its more successful stablemates. The Rogue Sport’s analog, the not-sold-in-America Qashqai, was recently redesigned, however, so it’s possible Nissan may have a change of heart in the future and bring the new-generation model back to our shores.
Ram ProMaster City
The Ram ProMaster City hangs up its tool belt for 2023. With the demise of the ProMaster City and Ford Transit Connect, the small van segment is effectively dead in America. That said, we’re hopeful that the ProMaster City’s passing signals Ram’s intention to bring a compact or mid-size pickup into its fold, à la Ford with the Maverick and Ranger.
Toyota Avalon
Toyota ends the Avalon’s nearly 30-year run by nixing the big sedan from its 2023 lineup. In the Avalon’s place comes the hybrid-only 2023 Crown, a higher-riding full-size sedan with SUV-like attributes.
Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen’s Passat has always been a bit player compared to the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which at one point were selling nearly a half-a-million sedans annually. The Passat’s bestselling year, in 2012, was 117,023 units. To celebrate its finale, Volkswagen offered a Passat Limited Edition with subtle references to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the Passat was built for the last decade of its life.
Keyword: These Vehicles Are Dead for 2023