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: Plymouth (1928-2001)
Chrysler introduced Plymouth as a low-cost alternative to its other cars. Its high-flying and futuristic design kept the brand strong in the 1950s and 60s, but “badge-engineering,” or slapping the Plymouth label on other Chrysler products, destroyed this identity in the 1990s. The Chrysler Prowler and PT Cruiser were planned as Plymouths – a way to recapture an old, original spirit – but Plymouth was shuttered before their release. Mercury (1938-2011)
Mercury was a mid-priced car at its introduction, designed to be an affordable medium between the cheaper Ford models and the luxury Lincoln line. As sales slumped in the mid-1940s, Lincoln and Mercury merged. The faithful Marquis and Grand Marquis models were exceptionally popular from the 1960s to the 2000s, but Mercury’s aging and narrowing demographic eventually lead to its demise. Tucker (1944-1950)
After WWII, American consumers were clamoring for new car designs – but the Big Three had yet to introduce any. Preston Tucker believed he could fill the void with his Tucker 48 Sedan – a new car packed full of futuristic safety innovations. A prototype made a disastrous premier in 1947 – it was loud, boiled coolant, required external power to start, and couldn’t back up. Much more successful debuts were made with later prototypes.