2012 Chevrolet Tahoe Ltz on 2040-cars

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These cars are headed to the Great Crusher In The Sky

It happens every year. We bid adieu to some cars and trucks that will be missed, and say good riddance to others wondering how they stayed around so long. Whether they're being killed off for slow sales or due to a new product coming along to replace them, the list of vehicles being discontinued after 2012 is surprisingly long and diverse.
CNN Money has compiled a list of departing vehicles, to which we've added a few more of our own. In the slow sales column, cars like the Lexus HS 250h, Mercedes-Benz R-Class and the full Maybach lineup appear, while the Ford Escape Hybrid, Mazda CX-7 and Hyundai Veracruz are all having their gaps filled with more modern and more fuel-efficient alternatives. Obvious exceptions to the rule include models that still sell in decent numbers like the Jeep Liberty and the Chrysler Town & Country (which will eventually be replaced by a crossover-like vehicle).
Check out our gallery of discontinued cars above, then scroll down for more information.

EcoCar2 is on the hunt for a better, cleaner Chevy Malibu [w/video]

The students spent three years transforming an ordinary Chevy Malibu into a revolutionary vehicle. Not far from the building where General Motors once invented the Chevy Volt, a dozen or so college students are standing on the blacktop alongside a test track, watching a professional driver push the limits of a plug-in hybrid car they've built that's far more radical. These students, from Colorado State University, have spent the past three years transforming an ordinary Chevy Malibu into a revolutionary vehicle. At first glance, it still looks like a regular sedan. But under the hood, they've installed a hybrid powertrain that contains both hydrogen and electric power sources. Even by the standards of the Department of Energy competition they're participating in, it's an outlier. That's exactly what they had in mind. "We didn't want to come here and tell them how to build a better Volt," said Tom Bradley, faculty adviser for the Colorado State team. "They already know how to do that. We can tell them how to think about these possibilities in a whole new way." After three years of work, it all comes down to this. The Colorado State team was one of 15 that came to GM's Milford Proving Grounds last week for the final stretch of the EcoCar2 competition, which challenges regular college students who have no automotive experience to do nothing less than reinvent the American car. The teams have come from across North America, and include schools like Ohio State and Virginia Tech that have a long history of participating in similar competitions, and schools like the University of Washington and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that are here for the first time. After three years of work, it all comes down to this. The teams have operated 24 hours a day for almost two weeks here at the Proving Grounds, running a gamut of tests that include a 310-point safety inspection, emissions and energy-consumption tests and road tests, in which professional GM drivers ensure they're road worthy. The winning team will be announced tonight in Washington D.C. Revolutionary cars, ordinary package While other green-car competitions encourage extreme designs, this one comes with a somewhat constraining twist: Yes, students must improve fuel economy and reduce emissions, but in the end, they still have to have a car that would appeal to mainstream customers. In practical terms, that means they must keep conveniences like air conditioning and trunk space.

2020 Chevy Trax and Buick Encore spied testing

We just recently saw a little crossover SUV from General Motors being tested, and we weren't positive what brand it belonged to. We narrowed it down to Chevy or GMC, but we're feeling more confident that it's a GMC now, since both the next generation Chevy Trax and Buick Encore subcompact crossover SUVs have been spied testing together. Of the two, the Chevy has the more radically different sheet metal. It ditches the somewhat frumpy, lumpy shape of the current Trax for a body inspired by the bigger Chevy Blazer. The roofline has sharp corners, and the hood is wide and flat. The front fascia, though obscured, shows the most connection to the bigger crossover. It has the same split headlight configuration, and it looks as though the grille takes up a sizable section of the fascia. View 7 Photos The Buick Encore on the other hand looks evolutionary in design. The body still has plenty of curves, and the distinctive, sharply rising window sill are all hallmarks of the current Encore design. The headlights and grille are similar, too, though the grille appears to be slightly updated to fit in with the Enclave and Regal. It's understandable that Buick might want to play it safe with the new Encore, since the model is Buick's best seller, selling about 23,000 units in the last quarter, nearly twice that of the next best performer, the Enclave. Since this is the first time we've seen these little crossovers, we expect it will still be a year or two before we get to see them fully revealed. They will probably continue to use small-displacement turbocharged four-cylinder engines with either front- or all-wheel drive. Related Video: