About EdselThe Edsel represents one of the largest marketing and production failures in American automotive history. Market research in the mid-1950s had convinced Ford executives that Lincoln, the automaker's premier line, was in fact competing not with Cadillac over at GM, but with the lower-level Oldsmobile. And in order to correct this problem, Lincoln would need to move further upmarket, which left a hole in the lineup for a brand new intermediate car. That car became the Edsel, named after Henry Ford's son.At first known only as the "E car", the Edsel was given a significant amount of publicity from Ford for its launch in September of 1957, and even had its own television special to help market the new car to the buying public. All this served to convince the public that the Edsel would be an all-new car, but in reality, it was basically just a rebadged and rebodied Ford, and the new styling wasn't attractive and didn't catch on with buyers. In addition, the car's pricing didn't fit with the market in which it was placed--the least expensive 1958 Edsel was... View more more expensive than the highest-level Ford sedan and slightly cheaper than the cheapest Mercury Medalist, but mid-range Edsels were more expensive than the Mercurys slotted above them. It was to be sold through a new division of the Ford Motor Company, with its own retail and dealer network. From November 1956 through January 1958, Edsel stood on its own as a unique make. Later, it was folded into Mercury and Lincoln. Over 1,100 new dealers signed on to sell Edsels, but with sales never taking off, many had to switch to Ford of Europe products, or simply close their doors. 63,000 were sold in the U.S. in 1958 in four models: the Citation, Corsair, Pacer, and Ranger. The Citation came in hard top and convertible styles, while the Corsair was built only as a two- and four-door hard top. The Pacer was smaller and sold as a hard top or convertible, as was the Ranger. Wagons were also built on the Ranger and Pacer structures. By 1959, only two models were available: the Ranger and Corsair. Just 45,000 were sold in the U.S. that year. 1960 was the final year for the company, with just under 3,000 cars built. Unique features included a special dash with a "rolling dome" speedometer and push-button automatic transmission with buttons placed in the center of the steering wheel. Other innovations included specially-designed ergonomic interior features. But despite all this, the styling was just too much for many buyers, and quality control problems plagued the automaker, which only made things worse. Generally speaking, the failure goes all the way to the top of Ford's corporate ladder, as the company didn't truly understand the market to which it was trying to cater. Edsel scholar Jan Deutsch is quoted as saying Edsel was "the wrong car at the wrong time". After spending a reported $400,000,000 on the project, Edsel's plug was pulled at the end of 1959, with cars built through 1960. View less | |||
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