Honda Element
Honda Introduced in 2003, the Element was always intended to be a niche vehicle, a car that combined the utility of an SUV with the durability of a pickup truck. The Element sold better than expected, and it helped usher in an era of "boxcars" like the Scion xB, Nissan Cube and Kia Soul. Honda did little to change the Element during its 8-year model run, and when interest in the car began to wane, Honda couldn't justify the cost of a redesign. The Element is built in the same Ohio plant as the CR-V, and with CR-V sales booming -- last year it outsold the Element by nearly 15 to 1 -- it made sense to drop the Element and devote the freed-up plant capacity to the CR-V. Still, many will be sad to see the Element go -- me among them.
