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Disastrous: Cars That Almost Bankrupted The Big Three Automakers

Cameron Eittreim January 31, 2023

It’s not a secret that the automotive industry is built around sales success. If a car isn’t selling or it is controversial (perhaps even both), it means the difference between millions of dollars or a huge loss for the company that made it. Many automotive companies were bankrupted for many reasons, and indeed the car industry is cutthroat. But even the most successful automotive companies have had close calls with failed projects. For example, the exalted Ford Motor Company has teetered on collapse more than once.

The most catastrophic events in the automotive industry have centered around vehicles like the Ford Pinto, which had an exploding gas tank, or the Chevrolet Corvair, which was dubbed unsafe at any speed by the United States Congress. But companies like Ford and GM always found ways to heal the damaged reputation from these vehicles. However, there is no denying that these cars from the big three automakers almost bankrupted their companies at one point or another. Look back at these infamous moments in automotive history right here.

Ford Pinto

The Pinto was a car that was designed to help consumers with the high fuel prices of the 1970s. Automakers moved toward fuel-efficient cars and thus the Pinto was at the forefront for Ford Motor Company. The debacle that happened with the fuel tank was understandably enough to cause the car to have a great deal of controversy surrounding it (via Tort Museum).

Ford Maverick — Photo Credit: Car Domain

The Pinto was initially a great selling vehicle for Ford but that luster quickly wore off. The car was plagued by all kinds of other quality issues. Surprisingly enough Ford based the third-generation Mustang on the Pinto platform. The car was a far cry from the muscle car that it once was and the Pinto was a joke overall for car buyers.

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Chevrolet Corvair

The Corvair was set to be the future of sports cars, but its design was so radical that it was dangerous to drive. The main problem was the design of the wheelbase which was much shorter than anything else on the market. Due to a lack of design testing, the Corvair was difficult to drive, especially in inclement weather (via Hemmings).

The Corvair cost General Motors almost a billion dollars in lost revenue and sales. The design of the car was updated later on but by that point, it was far too late. The damage was already done by the tarnished reputation of the car. Chevrolet took a huge hit because of this car and it took them years to recoup from it, but they did.

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Ford Explorer Second Generation

The second generation of the Ford Explorer was one of the best-selling cars in Ford’s history. But it was also one of the most controversial. The roof of the Explorer was weakened due to its new modern design. This meant that when it was involved in a rollover crash, the result was usually death (via CNET).

Coupled with the Firestone tire controversy, which itself cost Ford over a billion dollars, the second-generation Explorer has been tarnished ever since. The second generation of the Explorer was still a popular used car, but it still cost the company billions of dollars in lost sales and gave the company a ton of bad press. It could be argued that no other car was this problematic for Ford.

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Ford Edsel

The Edsel was supposed to be the future of automotive design, but it was far too ahead of its time. The first and most notable problem with the Edsel was the completely electric dashboard, which used buttons for everything. The shift buttons routinely messed up and made the car unreliable (via Time).

Sales of the Edsel were horrible, and Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars in the process. The car had an honest purpose, but it was far too soon for this type of technology. The Edsel was one of the worst cars Ford Motor Company ever built. It has reached an almost cult-like status because of all this, even though Ford has long since rebounded.

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Ford Mustang II

When the fuel crisis of the 1970s hit, automakers were trying to downsize everything. The Mustang was also downsized to save fuel costs. The Mustang II was the obvious successor to the previous generation of the car. But consumers were confused why Ford had done such a drastic downsizing (via Hemmings).

Needless to say, the Mustang II wasn’t a popular car, and it only contributed to the dire financial situation that Ford was in. Consumers were pinching pennies at every turn, and the Mustang II wasn’t the car for this. It’s safe to say that the Mustang may be Ford’s most popular name of all time, but this version of it just didn’t deliver during a strange time for American carmakers.

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Pontiac Fiero

The Fiero was an interesting concept when it hit the market as it was the first mid-engined sports car Pontiac ever built. From the outside, the Fiero was very similar in styling to the Toyota MR2. This was done by design, so Pontiac could tap some of the market shares that the Fiero dominated (via Hot Cars).

The problem was that the Fiero was rushed into production, and the final product had many shortcomings. Engine fires were prevalent in the Fiero, and it caused GM to have to do a massive recall effort on the car. The Fiero recalls cost GM millions of dollars and gave the automaker bad press in the process.

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Dodge Omni

The Dodge Omni was a compact car Chrysler released before the K-Cars came into the picture. The Omni had many positives, such as excellent fuel economy and a roomy interior. The problem was that the Omni had the same rear tank design as the Ford Pinto, and that caused explosions when it was hit from the rear end (via Hot Cars).

The Omni was initially a great-selling car, but once the bad press got out about the explosions, sales tanked. Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy due to Omni and other lackluster cars in the lineup. Luckily, things turned around a few years later once the K-Cars came into the picture.

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Cadillac Catera

By the 1990s, the Cadillac brand was in bad shape. GM needed a lifeboat to bring younger shoppers into the fold. The Catera was based on a compact car sold overseas and launched with a completely different advertising campaign. The problem was that the car had boring styling and the reliability was lackluster at best (via Motor Biscuit).

The Catera received horrible reviews from the automotive press, and the sales numbers were very low. The car was sold for a few years, but it was ultimately discontinued because there just wasn’t a market for it. GM lost a lot of money trying to market and sell a compact Cadillac that no one wanted.

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Ford Bronco II

The objective behind the Ford Bronco II was to sell a comparable vehicle to the up-and-coming Jeep Cherokee. The Bronco II was by all intents an SUV with a lot of potential until the production model came into the picture. The Bronco II didn’t have any of the things that Bronco owners wanted, like a removable top (via Motor Trend).

The Bronco II was a lackluster seller for the company, and it didn’t stay on the market for that long. Interestingly enough, Ford took everything wrong with the Bronco II and fixed it with the first generation of the Ford Explorer. As you most likely know, the Explorer became a massive hit for the company. But it wasn’t without its own problems that cost Ford greatly as we mentioned above.

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Chrysler Aspen

Released to the market at the height of the 2008 recession, the Aspen was a full-size SUV that was archaic and outdated. The design was based on the already outdated Dodge Durango, and not much had changed since then. The Aspen sales were so low that Chrysler eventually had to practically give them away (via Car & Driver).

Chrysler was teetering on bankruptcy and eventually needed a government bailout. The Aspen was a failed endeavor that almost pushed the company to the brink. Full-size SUV models were out of favor by this point in time, and the Aspen didn’t do itself any favors to buck that oncoming trend.

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Pontiac Aztek

The Pontiac Aztek was the first SUV ever sold by the Pontiac brand. There were many interesting positives to the Aztek, such as its built-in camping tent. But the negatives far outweighed the positives, as the Aztek was a poor seller for GM. The sales were so poor that the SUV was lambasted by the automotive press (via Auto Week).

The styling of the Aztek was a particularly tough spot due to the excess body cladding. The Aztek didn’t sell well, and it only contributed to the low point for the Pontiac brand. Interestingly enough, the Aztek became a sort of cultural phenomenon years later due to the popularity of the hit show, ‘Breaking Bad.’

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Chevrolet Vega

The Vega was one of the first compact cars ever released by General Motors. The styling was meant to be a compact Camaro. The problem was that the performance and reliability were non-existent, and the car lacked any refinement. The Vega was so unreliable that it often broke down after leaving the showroom floor (via Motor Trend).

The Vega has become popular in the aftermarket community as a hot rod. But when it was new, it did nothing but cost GM money. It took years for domestic automakers to figure out how to build a decent subcompact car. The original release of the Vega did the opposite, and despite its popularity on the retro market, it nearly cost Chevrolet their status in the auto world at the time.

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