Your Favourite Car Brands Are on Death Row! I’ve got the numbers that say so.
Times are tough, and for the car industry, it’s frankly tougher than most. Since the rush to electrification gathered pace less than a decade ago, legacy carmakers have been stumbling through a fog of big losses, plant closures, new supply chains, and enormous investment.
So it shouldn’t be a shock when analysts whisper that some famous marques might not make it. After all, we’ve already buried Saab, Rover, Pontiac and Daewoo. But right now? Several legendary badges are teetering on the brink – and some could be gone by 2027. In fact, a few may not survive the next 12 months.
Let’s pull back the curtain, follow the money, and see which beloved brands might soon be museum pieces.
Aston Martin – Shaken, Stirred… and Stuck
Bond’s favourite wheels aren’t looking too bulletproof in the real world. As of June 2025, Aston Martin is lugging around £1.38 billion in debt. Free cash flow? Down £321 million in just six months.
Revenue plunged 25% to £454 million, while high-margin “specials” collapsed by 85%, cutting gross margins from nearly 40% to just 28%. Yes, they raised £210 million in late 2024, but that was more lifeline than liftoff. Add in a China sales slump and US tariffs grinding exports to a halt, and things look messy.
Aston survives only if investors keep the cash flowing – and if Bond’s halo effect (boosted by Amazon MGM’s reboot) can still rub off. But the question remains: will 007 soon be browsing for a new company car?
Lotus – Colin Chapman Would Faint
Lotus delivered a promising 12,000 vehicles in 2024, raking in $924 million revenue. But 2025? A stomach punch.
In the first half of this year, revenue fell 45% to just $218 million, deliveries slid 43% to 2,813, with an operating loss of $263 million and a net loss of $313 million. Ouch.
The pain comes down to two factors:
- Chinese-built EVs like the Eletre and Emeya can’t crack the US thanks to tariffs (at $250k, they were dead on arrival).
- Demand is fragile, and Lotus lives and dies on small volumes.
Hethel is cutting 550 jobs (40% of staff) in a desperate reset. Fresh funding and Geely’s deep pockets might save it. But unless they conjure a new Esprit – and park it outside Amazon MGM – the brand’s survival remains in doubt.
McLaren – Supercars, Super Losses
McLaren Group burned through £872 million in 2023, with £762 million operating losses on £466 million revenue.
Early 2024 teased a turnaround: £3 million Q1 profit and a 52% jump in wholesale volume on models like the 750S. But Fitch still downgraded them to CCC+, one rung above default.
April 2025 saw Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings merge McLaren Automotive with EV start-up Forseven, creating McLaren Group Holdings. Meanwhile, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi bought McLaren Racing outright for £3 billion.
It’s a radical overhaul: SUVs and EVs in the pipeline, 500 jobs cut, 300 new roles promised. The racing team is winning again, but whether that translates into long-term stability remains the billion-pound question.
Maserati – From Trident to Trouble
Maserati sold just 11,301 cars in 2024 – half the year before. Revenue sank to €1.3 billion, with a €260 million operating loss.
H1 2025? More bleeding: 8,412 deliveries, a €139 million operating loss, and a staggering –37.7% operating margin.
The line-up is stale (Levante, Quattroporte), the Ghibli is gone, and while the GranTurismo looks gorgeous, it can’t carry the weight of an entire brand. The Grecale SUV was supposed to save the day – it didn’t.
Rumours say Stellantis has even considered selling Maserati. Officially, it remains “core” – but with Jeep, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo and Citroën on the books, Maserati is far from top priority.
Alfa Romeo – Hope on a Tightrope
Alfa has always lived dangerously. While Stellantis doesn’t break out exact numbers, the group lost €6 billion in free cash flow in 2024.
And yet… Alfa shows faint signs of life. Global sales rose 20% in H1 2025 thanks to the Tonale SUV. The Giulia never dethroned the BMW 3 Series, and the Stelvio is ageing fast, but Stellantis has committed to going all-electric by 2027, using shared EV platforms to cut costs.
For enthusiasts, the badge still has spark. Alfa might just be the one brand on this list with a realistic shot at survival – though pairing it with Maserati could drag it under.
Jaguar – The Cat on Life Support
Once the embodiment of British grit and charm, Jaguar is now barely breathing.
In April 2025, European sales collapsed 97.5% – just 49 cars sold. Year-to-date volume fell 75%. Global sales for 2024/25 slumped to 26,862 – an 85% collapse since 2018.
JLR’s April–June 2025 numbers weren’t much better: revenue down 9% to £6.6 billion, profit before tax halved to £351 million. Jaguar’s contribution? A black hole.
Jag has effectively paused. UK sales are halted, almost all petrol models are axed, 500 jobs cut. On top of that, a September 2025 cyberattack shut down production and registrations on one of the busiest plate-change days of the year.
The radical all-EV relaunch is planned for 2026-27. But with luxury EV demand cooling, Jaguar’s gamble could backfire spectacularly. Frankly, they might have been better off reviving their cheeky old tagline: It’s good to be bad.
Why It Matters
When a brand dies, it’s not just a logo disappearing. Service and parts get harder to source, insurance gets tricky, and residuals either nosedive or skyrocket depending on collectability. Enthusiasts lose living chapters of car culture.
So if you own one of these cars, don’t panic. Love it, use it, or store it away. Specialists will keep them going. And who knows – today’s strugglers may be tomorrow’s coveted classics.
So here’s the big question:
👉 If you could save ONE car brand, which would it be?
👉 And which would you let die?
Drop your answers in the comments – let’s see which marques petrolheads truly want to fight for.
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