14 Cars Which Disappointed Public Expectations

Photo by hz536n/George Thomas

8. GMC Envoy XUV

(2003–05)

The GMC Envoy XUV was supposed to combine the benefits of a SUV with a pickup truck. The original marketing and design of the vehicle included a retractable roof and movable watertight partition located in the rear of the vehicle. In a short timeframe, the owner could convert the auto from SUV to truck mode without much hassle. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not quite get the manufacturing details right on the auto. By attempting to save money on a full redesign, the XUV inherited all of the flaws of the Envoy. Additionally, through the conversions required to convert the auto into truck mode, what curb appeal the Envoy did have was lost. Finally, once the XUV was converted to truck mode, it basically could carry the same amount of cargo that the Envoy SUV was rated to carry. As a result, the GMC Envoy XUV failed to live up to everyone’s expectations and GMC ceased production of the auto in 2005.