Pontiac Aztek: the crossover the market research said nobody would take for free

The Pontiac Aztek crossover, sold for the 2001 through 2005 model years, became one of American car marketing's most-cited failures. GM's own market research ranked it dead last among buyers who were asked whether they would take it as a gift, and panels called it 'unattractive' and 'too weird.' Pontiac built it anyway, on a mandate from GM CEO Rick Wagoner that at least 40% of the brand's lineup be 'innovative.'

The numbers were bad from the start. Pontiac expected to sell around 75,000 Azteks a year against a break-even of roughly 30,000; it managed about 27,000 a year. The Aztek's awkward size — an SUV body with car handling that satisfied neither audience — was compounded by a design reviewers and owners alike struggled to defend. Future GM chief Bob Lutz later called the vehicle 'a joke' and said the management culture that produced it ran on 'complete acquiescence and intimidation.'

The Aztek's failure was a decision chain, not a single mistake. Management overrode its own research, rushed a product to hit an innovation quota, and let a culture where pushing back was costly stamp out the objections that would have saved it. The model was discontinued after the 2005 model year, and Pontiac itself was wound down by GM in 2010 during the bankruptcy.