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 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | November 19, 1956 |
| Founder | Ford Motor Company |
| Defunct | November 19, 1959 |
| Fate | Dissolved after the "Edsel" model was discontinued |
| Headquarters | Allen Park, Michigan, US |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Parent | Ford Motor Company |
Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was produced by the Ford Motor Company in the 1958 to 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort to give Ford a fourth brand to gain additional market share from Chrysler and General Motors. Established as an expansion of the Lincoln–Mercury Division to three brands, re-christened the Mercury–Edsel–Lincoln Division, Edsel shared a price range with Mercury. The division shared its bodies with both Mercury and Ford.
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Competing against Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Dodge, and DeSoto, Edsel was the first new brand introduced by an American automaker since the 1939 launch of Mercury and 1956 launch of Continental, which ended and merged into Lincoln after 1957. In the year leading to its release, Ford invested in an advertising campaign, marketing Edsels as the cars of the future. While 1958 Edsels introduced multiple advanced features for the price segment, the launch of the model line became symbolic of commercial failure.[1] Introduced in a recession that catastrophically affected sales of medium-priced cars, Edsels were considered overhyped, unattractive, distinguished by a vertical grille said to resemble a horse collar,[2] and low quality.
Following a loss of over $250 million, $2.57 billion in 2023 dollars,[3] on development, manufacturing, and marketing on the model line, Ford quietly discontinued the Edsel brand before 1960.[4]
- ^ Dicke, Tom (2010). "The Edsel: Forty years as a symbol of failure". Journal of Popular Culture. 43 (3): 486–502. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00754.x.
- ^ "Replicated Prototype - 1960 Edsel Corsair". hemmings.com. Hemmings. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Carlson, Peter (2007-09-04). "The Flop Heard Round the World". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06.