The world of the car industry tends to leave as its byproduct a vast amount of waste. Half used items, things thrown away, factories abandoned, entire companies left behind, with all their product wasted too. The motoring industry is just the same as this, with companies across the globe and across the decades rising and falling, growing and shrinking. These adjustments in demand and supply, as well as overall income and expenses, lead to a need for flexibility, and yet most industries are not nearly flexible enough.
This leads to companies falling by the wayside, or companies needing to shut down entire factories overnight. In the car world, shutting down factories may not be enough, it may involve closing the doors of their dealerships and other buildings. Many dealerships and shops across the globe go out of business quite regularly, even if the company is still around. Even the most luxurious car companies are not immune to lack of demand, or the need to downsize and close doors to dealerships and shops.
This means that there are, in many cases, dealerships and shops that have been abandoned and forgotten about, as if their doors were closed overnight and they were erased from memory. Often these buildings still have cars in them, sometimes in showroom floor condition, because that's where they still are. In any case, it creates a compelling photo, and a compelling place for people to visit and explore, even if there are risks involved. Let's take a look at 20 photos of high-end car companies that abandoned their shops.
19 Forgotten BMW Dealership
BMW has made a name for themselves as one of the leading brands in luxury, and while they are not as high-end as some of the supercars or extreme luxury brands out there, they provide a car that has a serious amount of luxury, comfort, and cutting edge features.
They've done successfully for many years, though as still happens even to the best, a dealership can't sell enough to be viable, and they have to shut their doors. In this case, the entire thing shut down, with new BMW rides still inside. Tantalizing, as they are pristine examples of vintage classics.
18 Forgotten Bugatti Beauty
Bugatti may seem like the most prominently successful car company out there, mostly because they craft some of the most technologically advanced and luxurious cars out there, the kinds of vehicles that cater to the super-rich.
Of course, while this is true and the reinvention of the brand has proven to be a huge success, this doesn't make them immune to the ebb and flow of the market. This empty factory is just such an example of this, where the empty shadow is all that remains and those massive logos.
17 Jaguar Dealership
Jaguar is a car company that found its success in providing cars that perform at a truly exceptional level, are crafted with supreme quality, and wrap it all up in a soft, luxurious package. They quickly rose to fame as one of the higher-end luxury companies out there.
Of course, now it's owned by Ford, but that is just a testament to the ever-shifting changes present in the automotive industry. Sometimes that leads to the shuttering of doors, as is true in this case, where an entire Jaguar dealership has been shut down.
16 Toyota Shop With Only Supras
The Toyota Supra was perhaps one of the most influential cars to come out of the golden age of the tuner era. It married practicality with stock power, fantastic inherent performance with customizability. Toyota hit a good note with this car, and it was phenomenally successful.
Alas, all things must come to an end, and this abandoned shop full of Supras is just the perfect example of that happening. While they were at their most popular, it seems that someone wanted to cash in on as many as possible, and collected together this fine array of specimens.
15 Space Age Cadillac
While the market these days is quite saturated with top-notch luxury vehicles, especially those from Europe, there was once a time when the Cadillac name was equivocal with luxury, and the brand represented nothing but the most luxurious and fine of all motoring creation.
Since then, they've revolutionized themselves as a brand several times over, having at one point fallen to the depths of drab meaningless consumerism, and nowadays is slowly returning to some semblance of actual craftsmanship and luxury. But, this space-age dealership is just an example of a shop that needed to be abandoned.
14 GK Restoration's Porsche Graveyard
GK Restoration specializes in restoring and working on Porsche types, vintage, old, new, they restore as many as they feasibly can. They've got a pretty extensive shop that does this and makes it all possible. But, not every Porsche can be saved and may need to be scrapped.
This is a graveyard of old Porsches, stretched across a huge parcel of land, and they've been virtually forgotten, given up, abandoned to the elements and nature, rust and decay. Not every Porsche can be saved, though we all wish they could be.
13 BMW Lot Found In Bulgaria
In Bulgaria lies this shop, which is filled with pristine BMW luxury sedan models, all of which are collectible in some way or another. Only recently has it been discovered, and it is quite the treasure trove for BMW lovers.
This abandoned lot once was likely a hub for BMW owners, and perhaps the owner was themselves a passionate collector of them, but as time passed it was soon forgotten and left behind, where these pristine examples slowly faded under layers of dust.
12 Audi Dealership In Denmark
Audi has made for themselves a name that is synonymous with class, refinement, luxury, and craftsmanship. The Audi name is synonymous with quality, and over the years they've learned to cater more and more to the wealthy, further bolstering their status as high-end, as a luxury brand.
But, they've had to shutter doors on many shops and dealerships over the years, and this one, abandoned in Denmark, is just such an example of this. With classic Audi's filling the showroom floors, this is an Audi lovers paradise. I'll take this one, please.
11 Saab Dealership In Switzerland
Saab has had a very interesting and storied history, though it is no longer in business and their story has come to a rather sad end. Their cars can best be described as quirky and incredibly well designed. They were pioneers of new ideas, and while it didn't always work, often it did.
Luxury may not be the first word to describe Saab, but there is no doubt that they did provide a luxurious and quality vehicle to their customers. Alas, there is nothing, and this Saab dealership, abandoned in Switzerland, is just a symbol for their demise.
10 Ontario BMW Dealership
Abandoning a dealership is different than just closing the doors of one. When a dealership gets abandoned, the cars stay where they are. They don't go anywhere, don't get shipped back to where they came from, they just stay there, on the showroom floor.
This is what happened to a BMW dealership in Ontario, where some truly vintage M Series BMWs can be found, in perfect showroom condition, literally. Because they're still in the showroom. If only I could get my hands on one of them.
9 Abandoned Maltese Subaru Dealership
Subaru specializes in more affordable cars most of the time, but they've established themselves as providing a quality, well made, well-equipped car that more than fits the bill when it comes to high-end all wheel drive cars and vehicles.
They at one time even sold vans, when the van was a hugely popular car design to sell. Of course, as the market changes, so does what sells. This dealership in Malta is filled with old Subaru models, in pristine condition. Makes you want to drool, for me it's the hatchback Impreza that catches my eye.
8 Abandoned Lot With Luxury Graffiti In The Netherlands
Once a luxurious car dealership, now an empty lot filled with graffiti. So the way it goes with infrastructure, where one day a space is filled by a luxury car company's dealership, busy buying, trading, and selling high-end top notch cars, the next day it's emptied.
Left behind, abandoned, and forsaken to the elements, that's what's happened to this high-end shop, where some fancy and surprisingly artful graffiti murals have gone up. Guess people in the Netherlands have a knack for art. Though maybe not for high-end car shops.
7 Abandoned Lada Dealership In France
Lada is perhaps a much lesser known car brand in today's world, or at least on this side of the pond from Europe. But, once upon a time, they were a pretty renown car company that provided high-end cars and sports cars to the discerning public.
Since their inception, they've provided a strong, well-built car that many define as high end. This dealership in France has been forgotten, left behind as if it never existed. Yet, inside still remain pristine examples of old models. How cool to salvage one of these.
6 High-End Glass Walls
This dealership, gleaming with high-end luxury and class, almost looks as if it could still be operational, with shiny walls stretching high, letting light into a luxurious showroom full of expensive and valuable cars. But, the graffiti gives it all away.
The graffiti on the walls shows that this luxury dealership has been left to rot, forgotten and abandoned, emptied and left behind, cast aside by the heartless motoring industry as if it never even existed. All things are temporary, that is clear.
5 Abandoned Harley Dealership
Harley Davidson has been the benchmark for high-end motorcycles for decades now, and they are truly an icon of the US spirit and ethos behind the whole motorcycle community, which has spread across the world.
Harleys have long been redefining comfortability and quality in a motorcycle, and at least in part to their innovations has the motorcycle proven to be a way to get around in comfort and luxury. But, this market has been waning for some time now, and these shuttered doors only prove it to be true.
4 Abandoned Fuji Dealership in Malta
This dealership in Malta specialized in selling high-end Japan-made vehicles, luxury cars that people at one time loved buying. Perhaps at some time in the past, this dealership would be crowded with people looking to buy into some high-end foreign craftsmanship.
But, nowadays, this dealership, with its revealing glass windows and all, sits empty, a reminder to all that pass that not everything can stand the test of time, and if it does that it won't remain unchanged. Everything has to adapt to the times to stay alive, even the motoring industry.
3 Abandoned Ford Classics
This dealership, nowadays kind of in ruins and disarray, once held the gleaming, brand new creations from Ford, the kinds of high-end classics that everyone pines after. Seen through the reflections of glass, this pristine white Ford Mustang is just one such example.
There are others throughout the shop, but they are just out of reach, behind those walls, tantalizing in their showroom perfection. Even Ford, one of the worlds leading car manufacturers, deals with the ebb and flow of the market, and they have to shut their shops sometimes, too.
2 Dodge Dealership In London
Dodge is nowadays synonymous with Chrysler, which is synonymous with Cadillac, which is synonymous with Jeep. Indeed, they are all facets of the same mega-corporation, and while they provide run of the mill, non-high end vehicles, they also manufacture some pretty luxurious and high-end cars and sports cars.
This one, found in London, Ontario, has had to close their doors, as the rigors of owning a massive corporation such as this one mean that shedding weight and cutting costs often leads to huge casualties and waste. This dealership is a small piece of that machine.
1 Citroen Dealership In Germany
Citroen is a French car company that has been around for quite a while now, and they strive to make high-end vehicles that are still moderately affordable for the people. They make a good product, but that by no means is safe from having to close their doors.
Which is just what happened at this shop in Germany, specializing in Citroen sales, repairs, et cetera. With a lack of demand, there is no feasible way to keep a shop open, and that means the doors need to be shut, for good. No matter where it is or who it is.
Sources: Motor Authority, Five Prime & Motor Punk