26. Audi 5000
Today, Audi is one of the leading luxury brands in the American market. Still, in the late ’80s, the company was almost gone from U.S. shores. That was due to the news of unintended acceleration problems resulting in numerous crashes. In 1986, the popular CBS TV show 60 Minutes ran a feature about Audi’s unintended acceleration on the popular 5000 model.
However, television viewers didn’t see that they had rigged the car. In fact, the acceleration they featured in the show wasn’t genuine. After the show aired, the car community was buzzing. As a result, Audi’s reputation was badly damaged. Audi responded by publishing numerous tests and videos to show the only possible way something like that could happen was if the driver’s foot slipped off the brake to the accelerator pedal. Unfortunately, it didn’t help and soon their sales hit rock bottom.