What is the oldest car you can currently buy new?
Kia
There are several models that have secretly been around for quite a few years, but still look young thanks to clever facelifts. Take the Kia Picanto. The current generation received its second major facelift in 2023. This makes it look like a brand new car, even though the base dates back to 2017. Not ancient, but not squeaky clean either.
Kia applied the same trick to the Stonic. That also appeared in 2017 and received a facelift in 2020. Now, five years later, the model is getting another substantial update for the 2026 model year. The result is a fresh, modern look, but under the skin it is still the same car from eight years ago.
Fiat
At Fiat, they know what to do with it, too. No, we are not talking about the Fiat 500, which went into production in 2007 and remained available until 2024 – over 2.5 million units were built. But now there is a completely new, electric 500e that will soon appear with gasoline engines as well. So under the skin, that’s just a modern car.
The Fiat Pandina, on the other hand, has been around for quite a few years. Pandina is the new name for the Panda that entered the market in 2012. Fiat gave it more modern safety systems and thus a new name, and will soon bring it to market. But the base still dates back to 2012.
Tesla
Surprisingly, the oldest new car to buy today is electric. It is the Tesla Model S, one of the first mass-produced EVs. Development began in 2007 and it appeared on the market in 2012, almost at the same time as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe. The latter in particular is now an almost forgotten dinosaur, but you can still order the Model S from Tesla. The brand kept improving the model continuously and today it reaches more than 700 kilometers on a full battery.
In terms of design, you do notice that the Model S is starting to show its age. In 2016, the Model S received a facelift in which the black “nose cone” disappeared, but since then the exterior has hardly changed. Tesla tries to keep the model attractive with extreme variants, such as the Plaid with 1,020 horsepower and a futuristic “yoke” steering wheel. Still, sales figures show that the shine is off. Probably the end of the life cycle is not far away for this model.
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