Title: Lessons From the Failure of the Ford Edsel
Headings: 4 lessons from the failure of the Ford Edsel, one of Bill Gates' favorite case studies
4 lessons from the failure of the Ford Edsel, one of Bill Gates' favorite case studies
The Edsel has new life today as a collector's item.
Don't let egos trump research
Focus your vision
An advertisement for some of the many variations of the Ford Edsel.
Don't put yourself in a situation you can't get out of
If you fail, accept it and move on, all the wiser for it
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Content: Mere weeks before the car's launch in September, Brooks writes, "Automotive News reported that dealers in all makes were ending their season with the second-largest number of unsold cars in history." If you fail, accept it and move on, all the wiser for it
At launch, the car was too expensive, used up too much gas, and was mocked in the press. A redesigned 1959 Edsel debuted to better reviews, but the damage was done. Nobody wanted an Edsel. A 1960 Edsel came out in limited production, but Ford president and future secretary of defense Robert McNamara finally pulled the plug in 1960. Brooks estimates that "every Edsel the company manufactured cost it in lost money about $3,200, or the price of another one." Even though Ford recovered from the setback, the executives who led the project expressed to Brooks no recognition of their countless mistakes and even looked back fondly on their time developing and marketing the car. J.C. Doyle, an Edsel marketing manager, even went so far as blaming the American public for the failed launch. He tells Brooks that he was flabbergasted that the American consumer dared to be so fickle. "What they'd been buying for several years encouraged the industry to build exactly this kind of car," he says. "