When an automaker discontinues a particular car, those vehicles don’t simply cease to exist. And if you’re a new car dealer selling a since-discontinued model, you might well end up with some lingering cars, trucks and SUVs on your lot awaiting new homes for a year or two. This isn’t great for the dealerships in question, but it likely works out better for car buyers seeking a bargain — which is how you end up with, say, multiple people buying new Dodge Vipers in 2020 despite the car being discontinued three years earlier.
Call it a sign of buyers looking for a bargain or people willing to make an unorthodox choice in the wake of supply chain shortages, but it’s a very real phenomenon nonetheless. And it’s one that continued into 2021, with 16 brand-new Jeep Patriots selling despite the model being discontinued in 2016.
That’s one of many takeaways from an Autoblog report analyzing car sales from 2021. Among the other fascinating pieces of information to be found there? Ten people bought new Dodge Darts even though the Dart went out of production in 2016, and one person bought a Toyota FJ Cruiser despite new models not being produced since 2014.
Some of the data from the report is a little less head-spinning — including the sales of 750 Dodge Impalas and 55 BMW 6 Series. But there’s something inherently fascinating about an unexpected vehicle purchase — and something heartwarming about a dealership finally parting ways with a car that had, assumably, been on its lot since the Obama administration.
Also, for those keeping track, four Dodge Vipers were sold last year.
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