Car manufacturers have high hopes when they launch new cars. It just doesn’t always go as they hoped. Here are 10 new car models that have fallen to the ground.
TEXT Morten B. Bek PHOTO PR/Morten B. Bek
“It looked so good, and then it was actually bad”. The sad phrase comes from The Song of Larsen, which was written in 1935. We’re pretty sure that the people behind the song didn’t have the car industry in mind when they wrote it (it’s about an office worker who has lost his spirit), but the perfect for those cases where automakers introduce a new car model with great fanfare – only to see it fall to the ground with a crash.
Hopeful car dealers hold open houses, send potential customers out for test drives and talk about big screens, nice rims and extra safe security systems. It does not matter at all if there is a problem somewhere with the new car model. It may be too expensive. It can also be too distinctive. Or maybe too small, too big or too cheap in the cabin.
When the Danes say no thanks to a new car model, it can be seen in black and white in the registration figures at Bilstatistik, which Bilbasen has access to. We can see how unusual and massive a hit Tesla Model Y has become. Over 15,000 pieces from 1 January to 30 December. And we can see that a car like the Opel Astra has ended up in the opposite ditch, and there is no life in it at all.
We have dug a little into the numbers and found 10 new or almost new car models which are faring worse in Denmark than many had thought and than the car manufacturers had expected (we do not take into account whether there are delivery difficulties or whether there are 1,000 cars ready around the corner for registration). It was supposed to be so good, and then it was actually bad.
Jeep Avenger – Car of the Year in Europe is the Disappointment of the Year
The first electric Jeep is like the skin that was sold before the bear was shot. Avenger can’t quite deliver what it promises. When the charm and the cool design have impressed, you find out that there is an average electric car hiding under the metal.
The Avenger looked like it could be a hit when prices from DKK 280,000 were announced in February. We wrote ourselves that the prices are sharp. Maybe it was the Jeep charm, because today the prices don’t seem like anything special (they’re still the same) – and it doesn’t help that the Avenger is just average. Giving it the European Car of the Year 2023 title doesn’t seem entirely thought through.
Avenger has so far not had a full calendar year on the market in Denmark, but the fact that only 44 of them have been registered since the start-up is surprising. For comparison, 51 new Ford Mustangs were registered in the period between 1 January and 30 November, and it is not the electric car, but the classic one with a V8 engine, that this number covers.
Alfa Romeo Tonale – Now what kind of car is this?
Things are really bad at Alfa Romeo, and especially in a market like the Danish one, the car brand is so small that we wonder what the dealers are really there for. The facelifted versions of the Giulia and Stelvio are not currently sold in Denmark (a single Giulia was sold here in 2023 before it was discontinued), and the only car on the website is therefore the new Tonale.
The Audi Q3-sized Tonale is sold in Denmark only as a plug-in hybrid, and the electrified Tonale comes with a healthy output of 280 hp. The problem for Alfa Romeo is simply that the Tonale is not electrified enough to be able to participate. The constantly declining sales of plug-in hybrids make the timing of the introduction of a new one an unfortunate situation.
So does the price of Tonale. An Audi Q3 as a PHEV costs DKK 450,000, and the Germans have sold 625 of them this year up to and including November; The Tonale costs at least DKK 525,000, and it obviously doesn’t matter to the Danes that it has more power than the Q3 and four-wheel drive. 21 examples of Tonale have been registered in the first 11 months of the year (five of them are for sale as demos on Bilbasen). If you’ve seen one out there, you’ve been lucky, because it’s rarer than the big BMW i7.
Hyundai Ioniq 6 – It’s the Ioniq 5 that customers want
Few cars have received as much publicity in recent years as the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The electric Korean’s unique, technical design and fine interior are combined with new technology and excellent prices – it all fits together in the Ioniq 5.
You could also think that it does in the newer Ioniq 6. It must then be able to ride the wave of success from its angular sister? It just couldn’t, it turns out. Maybe it’s too impractical, but more likely the design is more special than it is sexy.
JAC E-JS4 – There’s a reason people stay away
We tested the Chinese JAC E-JS4 earlier this year and the conclusion was that… “The E-JS4, Niro EV and E-2008 are family cars, and family cars must meet strict requirements for safety and security equipment. Many transport their children in cars like them. Therefore, I cannot recommend anyone, neither families nor others, to buy a JAC E-JS4.”
For DKK 280,000, you buy an electric car from JAC, which only feels modern in a few respects. The E-JS4 scrapes the bottom when it comes to safety equipment, and the driving characteristics are only saved by the fact that the car has a fairly comfortable undercarriage.
Even so, 60 Danes have bought an E-JS4 through 2023. They must first of all have been convinced by the price, which is DKK 100,000 below a VW ID.4. But they should have spent DKK 20,000 more and bought an MG Marvel R, which has up-to-date safety systems.
Nio ET5 (or any other Nio) – A tough fight
Nio is a textbook example of how difficult it is to come from nothing and start selling cars from a new brand. Nio is Chinese and at the same time comes with a number of other Chinese brands that the Danes do not know, which have the same mission: to sell expensive electric cars to the Danes.
We can say as much as that the cars themselves have nothing wrong with them. Whether it is the ET5 Touring, EL6 or ET7, they are electric cars with a nice interior, good driving characteristics and an attractive design. Yes, there is one thing in the way. In relation to the battery size, the range is below average.
It is probably more the price structure that is the problem. It can be difficult to understand. Although there is always a battery in a Nio, you can buy one without a battery. So, you can’t, but you can rent the battery instead of buying it. Then the car costs a price. If you buy it with a battery, it is much more expensive. As in DKK 93-168,000 more expensive if it’s the ET5 we’re looking at.
You can exchange the battery for a fresh one at a Swap Station (as in ONE station, because there is only one in Slagelse), if you rent the battery of course.
20 copies of ET5, six copies of ET7, four copies of EL6 and eight copies of EL7 have been registered from 1.1.2023 to 30.11.2023. These are really, really few cars.
Mercedes EQE SUV – Overtaken by older competitors
It must also be reasonable. Mercedes’ new EQE SUV has not fallen to the ground with a bang on the Danish market. It would be completely unreasonable to say that about the car and the sale. But it’s fair to say that it doesn’t fare well enough in the competition at all.
196 copies since introduction may indicate, without us saying it is actually the case, that Mercedes is having trouble getting cars. It may also indicate that the Danes would rather have other electric cars than the EQE SUV. Like, for example, the direct competitors Audi Q8 E-Tron and BMW iX.
The EQE SUV starts at approximately DKK 760,000, and for the price, the base model has a really nice WLTP range of 577 kilometers. It’s better than the competition, but they have significantly more horsepower in the base versions. For the Q8 E-Tron (from DKK 715,000), 414 have been registered so far in 2023 (this includes 18 copies of the pre-facelift model E-Tron), and for the BMW iX (from DKK 750,000) the number is 390.
Seen in the light of the fact that the older models from Audi and BMW are sold in far more copies, things have not gone as planned in relation to the EQE SUV.
Opel Astra – It can go so wrong
There was a time when Opel had some of the most popular car models in Denmark. Kadett and later Astra were invaluable on the market in the 80s and 90s. It’s actually a bit sad to see where Astra is today. A brand new car model that hit the market in the spring of 2022, which has fallen to the ground with a huge bang.
During the first 11 months of 2023, the total number of Opel dealers in Denmark have registered a total of 65 copies of the new Astra. This roughly corresponds to each dealer selling one copy of the Astra. Let the champagne corks pop!
65 copies of the Astra make the equally unpopular sister model, the Peugeot 308, look like a hit. 308, 261 copies have been registered so far in 2023. What has Opel (and Peugeot) done wrong? They have set the prices too high. A basic Astra with 110 hp and manual gearbox must not, must not, cost DKK 310,000, and a plug-in hybrid with a high level of equipment should not cost DKK 400,000 either.
The electric Astra, Astra Electric, which comes as a hatchback and a station wagon, has long been on its way to the country, but we’re guessing that expected high prices mean it hasn’t been introduced yet. The Astra Electric has 156 hp and a maximum range of 418 kilometers, and a car with those numbers should cost approximately DKK 300,000.
Peugeot 408 – When the Danes don’t understand what’s going on
Is it a crossover? A hatchback? A station wagon? Putting the Peugeot 408 in a box is not easy, and it is basically very cool. Without a box, however, there is also the risk that no one will fully understand what a car model is all about. Judging by the 408 sales in Denmark, this is exactly what is happening.
Peugeot has put number plates on 83 copies of the 408 this year. Almost all are the PHEV version with 225 hp, but two of those registered are the petrol version with 130 hp. We’ve only had the opportunity to try the partially electrified one, and Peugeot really doesn’t make it easy to love it – because it costs over DKK 500,000 when the metallic paint (blue-metal is free) is included.
It is reasonable to think that customers would instead buy a conventional model like the 308 or a period crossover like the 3008. Unfortunately, for Peugeot, that is not the case; the two models will have a total of only approximately 500 copies throughout 2023.
BYD Han – Luxury made in China
Chinese BYD got off to a good start in Denmark with first the Kia Niro EV competitor Atto 3 and later the compact Dolphin, but when it comes to the two large cars in the model range, things are more than sluggish. It almost just doesn’t work.
The large SUV Tang and the large sedan Han both cost around DKK 600,000, and that is too much to ask of the Danes when they can’t even figure out how to pronounce the name of the cars. The sedan Han is both delicious, good-looking and fast, and it accelerates – as written on the tailgate – to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. It’s the name and it’s the price that’s holding Han back.
You become a member of a very exclusive club if you pay the high membership fee for Han. For DKK 610,000, three Danes from January to November have bought (or privately leased – from DKK 12,000 per month) a Han. If they meet with the owners of the SUV Tang, they only have to set the table for a total of eight people.
Xpeng P7 – It is another Xpeng that the Danes buy
Here is an all-too-good example of how the average Dane would much rather have an SUV or crossover than a good, old-fashioned sedan: Xpeng G9 and Xpeng P7. As one of the few Chinese brands that have made a breakthrough, Xpeng has sold and registered 309 copies of its SUV, the G9, in just a few months. It is a large car that is available from DKK 480,000, but only at DKK 550,000 has a battery that can really be said to give the car a long range.
For DKK 400,000 there is the large sedan P7, which has been on the market longer and which received a facelift earlier this year. It has a WLTP range of 576 kilometers in the basic version – 6 kilometers more than the G9 with the large battery for DKK 550,000.
If someone else could bring themselves to try a P7 and not just a G9, they might see that you get a really nice electric car here too. Even one that drives better than the G9 because it sits nice and low on the road. But that’s not how the piano plays, and that’s why only 59 copies of the P7 have had number plates screwed on this year to date.
