Title: DeSoto (automobile) - Dodge Wiki
Headings: DeSoto (automobile)
DeSoto (automobile)
Contents
1929–1942
Gallery
1946–1960
Gallery
1961
Termination factors
Recession
Dealer networks
Brand management and marketing
"The Final DeSoto"
DeSoto trucks
Models
Advertising
DeSoto in films
DeSoto in pop culture
See also
References
External links

Content: Following World War II, Chrysler had a large number of dealers that carried two or more Chrysler makes, with Plymouth–DeSoto and Chrysler–Plymouth relationships being the most common. However, as Chrysler attempted to spin Plymouth off into stand-alone dealerships, existing dealers typically chose to become higher-volume Plymouth dealerships over the slower-selling DeSoto brand, leaving the marque with a weakened dealer network and fewer outlets selling its cars. Also, DeSoto Division's failure to adjust to changing market trends by introducing a new compact car model in 1960 as its GM and Ford counterparts, as well as its own Dodge and Plymouth siblings did, also hastened its demise. Brand management and marketing
It was Chrysler's own brand management, which pitted each of the five marques (Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler and Imperial) against one other, that did the greatest damage to DeSoto and, ultimately, to the company itself in long-range product planning. [ citation needed] Rather than carefully managing the market relationship to specific price points for all consumers, as General Motors had done so successfully, Chrysler allowed its own divisions to develop products targeting markets covered by their own sister divisions. Dodge was, by far, the most successful when it introduced the lower-priced Dodge Dart in 1960, advertising for which compared the Dart to the "C" car, the "F" car, and the "P" car—Chevrolet, Ford, and Plymouth. While Dart sales soared in 1960, they did so at the expense of Plymouth, which lost sales to the Dart. Plymouth, traditionally one of the "low priced three" fell out of third place, only to regain it twice (1971 and 1974) before its own demise in 2001. When Chrysler marketing showed that consumers were likelier to buy an entry-level Chrysler than a DeSoto, Chrysler, seeing the opportunity, introduced the Chrysler Newport as a 1961 model, selling more than 45,000 units in its first year. At less than $3,000, the Newport, along with the Dodge Custom 880 introduced in 1962 covered the small price range that DeSoto had filled.