I've worked in the Detroit auto industry my entire life and have found that the vast majority of people whose only knowledge of vehicles is what they buy and drive.
Every vehicle on the road today, when first introduced, took about 8 years from concept to full production. And every vehicle has a calculated life cycle which is contingent on buyer demand. As long as the demand continues, the auto company will continue to produce the car with additional changes and add on's to keep up with their competitor.
Once the demand for a specific style starts to wane, the auto companies shift their attention to the type of vehicle the public is more inclined to buy.
I'll use my own car for example, which is a 2016 Ford Focus. Ford has announce they will discontinue the Focus and the Fusion and other passenger cars with 2018 being the last years manufactured.
There was no out cry here when those articles were posted........
Check out this article from this past April..........
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/ford-stop-making-all-passenger-cars-except-mustang-n869256
There are however examples of vehicles with a sort of built in floor for demand that continue on long after the product development cycle would have discontinued them. The tooling is amortized, the ad budget is practically nil, what changes are made are driven by government regulations if any regulatory changes, and corporate decisions on drivetrains. Prime example: the Ford Crown Victoria and stablemates Mercury Grand Marquis as well as Lincoln Town Car.
Except they DIDN’T shift. That’s why GM is failing. That’s why they’re going to keep making Impala’s for a year after deciding the line is dead.
Ford didn’t take taxpayer money to stay open. When they say a line is failing that’s not a giant waste of our money.
Of course they funny part about that article is they’re studiously ignoring that for the imports sedans are doing great. Nobody wants to buy sedans from the American 3, mostly cause their sedans suck. Hyundai, Nissan and Honda are all doing fine in the sedan market, a high percentage of the vehicles on the road are sedans. Imported sedans.