The Life and Death

The 1957-1959 Edsel Corsair

(Ford Motor Company)

The Life and Death of the Mysterious Automobile...

November 1st, 2012

James J. Wright

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The Edsel Corsair

3. What Went Wrong

4. Conclusion

5. References

In 1957 the Ford Motor Company introduced a car they felt would be of great success. Instead The Edsel brought the exact opposite, failing 3 years after it's creation. Although the needed time and effort for positive results were put in; the direction of executive thought and planning was simply mis-guided. Here are my findings on this failed project by the FMC.

The former Mercury - Edsel - Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company had a clearly defined goal with the Edsel. "The projection was that 200,000 units would be produced the firs year", said Phil Skinner, an Edsel historian. From a PM's perspective, this car could have definitely been a profitable venture for FMC. They had all the necessary resources as an organization to succeed.

The launch came on the heels of an extensive, expensive and exceptionally successful marketing campaign that had everybody talking about this mysterious new automobile (Ervin). The problem was their choice or style of marketing. FMC chose not to reveal the car prior to

launch. This method of marketing had consumers depicting a vehicle that was drastically different from anything they had ever seen before. Gayle Warnock, former director of public relations for the Edsel launch, stated that the Edsel executives didn't take the most sensible approach to marketing the car. In Ervin's article he went on to say "I learned that a company should never allow its spokespersons to build up enthusiasm for an unseen, unproven product".

In conclusion, I think the fact that they kept this car such a secret from the consumers was a mistake. Ford should have made the Edsel different in more ways than they did. They needed more

...