Edsel

Edsel is an automotive marque planned, developed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company. It was founded in 1957 but went defunct just 3 years later.

Ford expected to make significant inroads into the market share of both General Motors and Chrysler and close the gap between itself and GM in the US domestic automotive market with the Edsel brand. Ford invested heavily in a yearlong teaser campaign to hype up the consumers, leading them to believe that the Edsel was the car of the future.

However, after it was unveiled to the public, it was considered to be unattractive, overpriced, and overhyped. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. The Ford Motor Company lost $250 million on the Edsel's development, manufacturing, and marketing.

The brand became so infamous that the very word "Edsel" became a popular symbol for a commercial failure.

Why It Flopped

 * 1) Ford spent too much time keeping the Edsel shrouded in mystery to built hype. And when the Edsel failed to achieve its expectations, it left a poor first impression on potential buyers.
 * 2) False advertising: Ford claims that they have built "the entirely new kind of car" with the Edsel despite the fact that the cars are still based on Ford and Mercury platforms.
 * 3) Making point 1 even worse is that Edsel is competing against well established brands with developed customer loyalty such as Dodge, Pontiac, Oldsmobile etc.
 * 4) The brand was launched at the wrong time - just after the 1957 economic recession.
 * 5) * Even without the recession, the Edsel was launched in a time period when people are shifting attention from mid-priced cars to more economical models and some companies manufacturing them are drifting towards insolvency.
 * 6) The cars produced have poor quality, 16% of Edsel owners reported poor workmanship, people used to joke that Edsel stands for "EveryDay Something Else Leaks".
 * 7) * One of the main factor is that the 1958 model year doesn't have its own production line. Instead, the long wheelbase models (Corsair and Citation) were put on Mercury's production line whereas the SWB models (Pacer and Ranger) were given to Ford's. Assembling workers, who were adapted to Mercury and Ford vehicles, found the task of assembling the occasional Edsel very troublesome since the require different tools and parts. Worst of all, the workers weren't given adjustments in their hourly quota along with the new models. This resulted in horrendous quality control: mistakes are common, Edsels often left production lines unfinished, and the spare parts were stuffed into the cars' trunks along with the instruction for showroom technicians on how to install them.
 * 8) The bizarre centre vertical radiator grill also drew a lot of criticism. Original it was designed to be slim and elegant, but it was changed after engineers complaining that the grill is too small to draw enough air. This resulted in the Edsel's s "horse-collar" or "toilet seat" grill. Many mocked to for looking like "an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon", Neil Dan also claimed that it looked like a vagina.
 * 9) Instead of a horn in the centre of the steering wheel, the Edsel cars featured a Teletouch pushbutton automatic transmission selector. The device, while innovative, is very complex and delicate and suffered frequently from malfunctions. The wires are routed too close to the exhaust manifolds, leading to damage from overheating. Also many drivers made the mistake of shifting gears when they're trying to sound the horn due to muscle memory.
 * 10) Another design flaw is the reverse-boomerang shaped taillights found on the 1958 Edsel station wagons (i.e. Villager & Roundup). The design can be very misleading as when the turning signal flashes, it appears as if the taillight is pointing at the opposite direction of where the car is turning.
 * 11) The name itself, "Edsel", not even Henry Ford II wanted his father's name to appear on thousands of radiator grills. Results yielded from polls and surveys such as "Corsair", "Ranger", "Pacer" and "Citation" are instead used as names for specific makes.
 * 12) * At least they didn't take Marianne Moore's unorthodox ideas "Utopian Turtletop," "Pastelogram," "Turcotinga," "Resilient Bullet," "Andante con Moto" and "Mongoose Civique".
 * 13) Another issue is how their products are priced. Edsel is supposed to be placed between Ford and Mercury. However, it ended up competing with its sister division:
 * 14) *When debuted in 1958, the entry level Edsel Ranger was priced within $73 of the top-range Ford Fairline 500 and $63 less than Mercury’s base Medalist model. The mid-range models, Pacer and Corsair were more expensive than their Mercury counterparts - the Monterey and the Montclair. Edsel's top-of-the-line Citation four-door hardtop was the only model priced to correctly compete with Mercury’s mid-range Montclair Turnpike Cruiser. This confused the target consumers, leaving them uncertain whether the Edsel is supposed to be superior to Mercury or below it.

Redeeming Quality

 * 1) Their 1959 and 1960 models are far less awkward looking and have much better quality.
 * 2) Their cars have powerful engines which gave them some popularity among street racers.
 * 3) The 1960 model-year had only less than 3,000 units built, making them valuable collector's items.
 * 4) The brand even had its own TV show and it was considered to be Bing Crosby's real television breakthrough.