We’re halfway through 2026, and while it’s always illuminating to take a look at the best-selling cars of the year so far, it might be even more fun to see what models are lowest on the list for sales. These tend to be cars that are long-dead and out of production, but somehow still accumulating sales as they’re discovered like lost treasures on dealer lots. Put another way, they’re zombie cars. Dead, but still moving around a little.
For example, remember the Titans? No, not Denzel's Titans, but the truck kind. Nissan sold 10 Titan pickups throughout the first half of 2026. That truck went out of production in 2024, yet somehow, there are still a few hanging around on new car lots. Nissan doesn’t specify if they were the normal Titan or the heavier duty XD model, but either way, two handfuls of folks drove home in a brand-new Titan with a warranty this year.
Nissan had a couple of models that’d qualify as zombie cars, with the most exciting one being the GT-R. The final R35 GT-R rolled off the line in August 2025, yet a grand total of two found hands in 2026. None of those were sold in the second quarter, though, so the supply of new GT-Rs might well and truly be drying up.
Infiniti is in the same boat with the Q50 sedan. While we await the next-gen model that’s promised to be a lot more hardcore than the outgoing version, one new Q50 sold in the first half of 2026. Just like the Titan, the four-door sport sedan ended production with the 2024 model year, meaning that lone Q50 was sitting on a dealer lot for a very long time.
Another sedan that simply won’t die is the Chevrolet Malibu. GM hasn’t produced a new Malibu since November 2024, but it’s still selling at rates that you could argue are much higher than typical zombie status, as a whopping 206 Malibus sold in 2026 so far. We can respect the commitment to the American sedan, but it sure is funny to see so many Malibus drive off the lots this long after production ended.
Stellantis has a couple of models worth including in the zombie list, the most shocking of those being the Jeep Renegade. Jeep stopped making the Renegade after the 2023 model year production run concluded, and somehow it sold 33 of them throughout 2026. That’s a whole three years that these tiny Jeep crossovers waited around to find a home.
And then there’s the Dodge Challenger. Just like the Renegade, the previous Challenger died after the 2023 model year. However, 83 new Challengers sold in 2026 so far. Were dealers holding onto heavily marked-up Hellcats? Or were they just undesirable V-6 models? Hard to say, but finding a Hellcat-powered Mopar coupe on a dealer lot in 2026 sounds rather tantalizing next to the Dodge muscle products being sent out of the factory today.
Last on this zombie list is the Toyota Venza. This hybrid SUV didn’t make it out of 2024, but Toyota still managed to sell six of them in 2026. It was replaced by the more luxurious and also-a-hybrid Crown Signia. We never had a great deal of love for the second-gen Venza, but a rare few folks have a brand-new one in their driveway this year.
Source: roadandtrack.com
