Why did Ford Edsel fail in the market?

Answer 1

Although no one knows for sure why it failed, many suspect it was just a car ahead of its time. Technically, it wasn't a bad car - it was actually innovative for the time in that it had a lot of bells and whistles like transmission shift on the steering colum and an electric trunk opener inside the car. Although common for today, these were very new features in the 50s. Many accredit its failure to two primary things - the design of the front end and when the car appeared. Although it was thought up some 10 years earlier, it wasn't offered to the public until 1957 when the country was in recession. It was considered one of the worst marketing disasters of time and is remembered as the greatest failure in the automobile history. Although Ford spent a lot of money on consultants who told him car buyers would pay a premium for "the smart car for the younger executive or professional family on its way up", it flopped and was pulled after 3 years due to a lack of sales and negative press. While many cars fail, this was actually a whole line of cars because it was a MAKE of car rather than a model of car as many people think. It cost Ford millions (around 200 million), has been the butt of many jokes, and is considered the biggest disaster in the automobile industry to date, but there is quite a following of the automobile some 50 years later. Because it was pulled after 3 years, a mere 111,000 were made and there is quite a following for the unusual automobile today. Also, a mere 4 years after Ford had this phenominal failure, they recovered with the presentation of the Ford Mustang...and the rest is history.