Title: 14 Defunct Car Brands and Why they Failed
Headings: Defunct Car Brands
Defunct Car Brands
Studebaker (1852-1966)
Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
Packard (1899-1958)
Pontiac (1926-2010)
DeSoto (1928-1961)
Plymouth (1928-2001)
Mercury (1938-2011)
Tucker (1944-1950)
Kaiser-Frazer (1945-1951)
American Motors Corporation (AMC) (1954-1988)
Edsel (1957-1959)
DeLorean (1975-1982)
Saturn (1985-2010)
Hummer (1992-2010)
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Content: AMC’s Jeeps would keep the company afloat through the 1970s, as the rest of its line aged ungracefully. Chrysler would eventually pick up the pieces in the 1980s as a way to grab the profitable Jeep line. Edsel (1957-1959)
Ford promoted the Edsel as the perfect car, created after endless hours of market research – a “YOU car,” that all Americans would love and want. Unfortunately, when the car was unveiled on “E Day,” September 4, 1957, it was met with a lukewarm welcome. Everything from its name to its design and performance were found to be tacky and unattractive. Worse – it wound up being priced as a luxury car despite attempts to compete in the mid-priced market. In 2017 dollars, Ford lost $2.9 billion on the Edsel adventure. DeLorean (1975-1982)
John DeLorean is best known for designing the striking GTO, among other cars, and for being the youngest GM executive in history. Using seed capital from Hollywood stars and the British government, DeLorean built a manufacturing plant in Northern Ireland to produce the DMC-12. Initial vehicles suffered from poor quality control and testing, and the features, cost, and design of the car met with mixed enthusiasm in the States.