Car's models of 1990 and now

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How many car's models had been on market in 1980 and are available today ? And how many names had been dropped and new models are introduced ? Just cars not PU or SUV or minivan.

On top of my head these are the models that had been on market for more than 30 years and are available today:

Toyota Camry
Toyota Corolla
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Nissan Sentra ?
Nissan Maxima ?

Looks like very few car models(not counting truck or SUV) survived 35 years on market.

Honda Prelude, Toyota Celica & Supra ... were fairly popular then but the 2-dr coupes were slow selling so they had been discontinued.
 
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If you exclude the numeric portions, more or less all the MB and BMW cars would be in the list.
 
Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, Malibu, Impala, Charger are the few I can think of off the top of my head. Some of those cars had years where they didn't exist (like the Camaro) but then came back.

Mustang and Corvette are probably the oldest uninterrupted car names presently on the market by a wide margin.
 
Corvette and 911

There won't be any numeric Euro-named vehicles on your list besides the 911 because they change their model names frequently. Otherwise, the 3-series BMW has been around since the early 1980s. American & Japanese tend to keep the same name for many car generations even if the car changes dramatically
 
Do you mean 1990 or 1980? Title says 1990, body says 1980
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The Camry came out in 1983
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The Maxima came out in 1984 (called Datsun 810 from 81-83).

Does the Dodge Challenger count? It existed in 1980, but there was a gap from 1984-2008.

There is the VW Jetta (came out in 1979). The Golf was sold since 74, but was called Rabbit in the US until the mid-80s. The Beetle has been made since 1937, and VW has produced a car with that name plate every year since then, but there was a 20-year hiatus in the US. FWD Golf-based Beetle production began in 1998, and old rear-engine Beetle was produced until 2003.

Rolls-Royce made a Phantom up until 1992, but then released another generation 10 years later.

The Mitsubishi Mirage may also quality
 
Subaru has changed little from 1990 to 2016. They had core models of legacy and Impreza the same now. Although the legacy now means sedan and legacy morphed into raised station wagon

Nissans core models of Altima, Sentra and flagship maxima muster on into 2016.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Mustang and Corvette are probably the oldest uninterrupted car names presently on the market by a wide margin.


The Beetle dates back to 1937. There was a gap from when it was sold in the US, but it was still sold in other countries.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Mustang and Corvette are probably the oldest uninterrupted car names presently on the market by a wide margin.


The Beetle dates back to 1937. There was a gap from when it was sold in the US, but it was still sold in other countries.


Yes, that's why I specifically stated "uninterrupted" as there have been a few really old ones that have gone and then came back. The "new" beetle came out in 1997, which overlaps production of the old Beetle for certain markets, however manufacture for the US ended in 1977 and for Europe in 1985. I also don't believe the car was badged "beetle" in those markets as well. Not sure how that plays into the OP's topic though
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To quote the Wiki on it:

Originally Posted By: Wikipedia
The Beetle Cabriolet was produced for the North American and European markets in Germany until 10 January 1980. The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in July 2003.[40] The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then started again in 1993 and continued until 1996. Beetle sedans were produced for U.S. markets until July 1977 [41] and in Europe until 1985, with private companies continuing to import cars produced in Mexico after 1985. The Beetle convertible/Cabriolet ended production (as 1979 models) as of January 31, 1980.[41]


Whilst the Corvette has existed, as the Corvette, in North America, since 1953, the Mustang since 1964.
 
The reason those names continue on is because those cars were reliable for most of their years. The Maxima sucked from 1985-1988, and from 2004-2008 but that was short enough to save the car's reputation.

Can BMW fans tell me if the 325 name was used constantly?
Other times, BMW fans simply call it 3-class, 5-class, and 7-class, and those classes have existed for ages.

VW sold the Jetta and GTI in the USA for a very long time and the name hasn't died. In Europe, the VW Golf was always called the Golf, but VW would call it a rabbit in the USA, then call it a Golf, then call it a rabbit, and so on.

I don't remember how long Subaru used the names Impreza and Legacy.

Most people don't want to remember the Ford Escort, Hyundai Excel, Toyota Tercel, Dodge Neon, or several other cars that built up bad reputations. In order to help people forget a car with a bad reputation, the car company simply comes up with a new name for a similar sized car. Other times, they bring back an old name that people liked. The Chevy Malibu of the 1990s-2000s was nothing like the earlier models, but the name was brought back, possibly because the Chevy Lumina sedan never built a good reputation.

Also, cars with simple numbers and letters for a name must be changed to reflect the change in the car. The biggest Lexus was the LS400, but the engine got bigger and then the car was known as the LS430, and that name change continued for years.
 
You don't really mean "models" here, do you?

If you did it'd be a very short list.

You mean names, i.e. brands. Much more distant relationship with physical hardware.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
You don't really mean "models" here, do you?

If you did it'd be a very short list.

You mean names, i.e. brands. Much more distant relationship with physical hardware.


Exactly, a big difference between the name glued on a decklid and the actual platform.
 
It's interesting to compare this to the trucks. The truck names all have a very long history (especially F series which goes back to the 40s). No manufacturer wants to mess up their bread and butter. Trucks are the top 3 selling models (and Ford series by far more than nearest car) and the long history of names reflect that.
 
Camry, Accord, Corolla ... are models or names ?

Official DMV(California) registration has "make" and "model", I don't think there is "name" on the registration.

Ford Mustang: Ford is make and Mustang is model, according to DMV(California).

Most, if not all, models of the 80's survived until today uninterrupted was mainly because of good demand every year for the last 30-35 years.

Example: Accord and Camry were available early 80's and still available today and many more years to come, their body style may change every 4-5 years but I don't think Honda and Toyota will change their names to anything else.

Sometime manufacture changed the model name for no reason and sale went down hill for few years, they reversed back to the old model name. Example: Ford Taurus had very good sale number for many years, Ford then changed to Ford 500 and sale went down the toilet. Why changed a good name to some random number ? What is 500 ? Did Ford tried to mimic Audi 5000 of the 80's ?

Nissan Stanza was to compete with Accord and Camry, but didn't do very well so Nisan dropped it and replaced it with Altima.

How many models did Buick have in early 80's and how many survive as of today ? How many Buick models are in dealer today that didn't exit 30 years ago ?

It was very simple back in early 80's, every make had few models to select from, now every dealer has many new models and many trim levels. What was available 5-10 years ago may not exit anymore.
 
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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

Sometime manufacture changed the model name for no reason and sale went down hill for few years, they reversed back to the old model name. Example: Ford Taurus had very good sale number for many years, Ford then changed to Ford 500 and sale went down the toilet. Why changed a good name to some random number ? What is 500 ? Did Ford tried to mimic Audi 5000 of the 80's ?


The 500 was a version of the Ford Galaxie, available starting in the early 60's.

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The 500 was an attempt to throwback to that car. It failed.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Camry, Accord, Corolla ... are models or names ?

Official DMV(California) registration has "make" and "model", I don't think there is "name" on the registration.

Ford Mustang: Ford is make and Mustang is model, according to DMV(California).

Most, if not all, models of the 80's survived until today uninterrupted was mainly because of good demand every year for the last 30-35 years.

Example: Accord and Camry were available early 80's and still available today and many more years to come, their body style may change every 4-5 years but I don't think Honda and Toyota will change their names to anything else.

Sometime manufacture changed the model name for no reason and sale went down hill for few years, they reversed back to the old model name. Example: Ford Taurus had very good sale number for many years, Ford then changed to Ford 500 and sale went down the toilet. Why changed a good name to some random number ? What is 500 ? Did Ford tried to mimic Audi 5000 of the 80's ?

Nissan Stanza was to compete with Accord and Camry, but didn't do very well so Nisan dropped it and replaced it with Altima.

How many models did Buick have in early 80's and how many survive as of today ? How many Buick models are in dealer today that didn't exit 30 years ago ?

It was very simple back in early 80's, every make had few models to select from, now every dealer has many new models and many trim levels. What was available 5-10 years ago may not exit anymore.


Reading your post made me remember alot of Buick models. Regal,LeSabre,Skylark,Park Avenue,Electra,Riviera.
 
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