The End of the 'Edsel'
I-Ie disappearance from the Detroit production T lines of the Ford 'Edsel' has hardly been noticed in this country : not surprisingly, as few people here ever even saw the original model with its grille—to quote Time—'like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.' And later versions were barely distinguishable from any other American car. But Time's obituary notice sounded a warning note that it would be as well not to ignore here, where the tendency is to imagine that the Americans are ahead of us in such matters. The 'Edsel' was; Time admits, 'a prime example of the limitations of market research, with its "depth interviews" and "motivational" mumbo-jumbo.' The researchers provided a picture of what Americans had wanted a year Or two before the 'Edsel' actually came on the market; by the time the first model rolled on to the streets even the most high-powered promotion campaign could not save it, because fickle public taste had passed on to something else (it would be pleasant to think that the public also turned against it because it was so ugly; but there is no evidence that aesthetic disapproval counted).
How long will European manufacturers be able to resist the demand of their accountants to change models more frequently, in order to put last year's car out of fashion? Just so long as we learn the lesson of the 'Edsel,' and stick to the principle that a new model (in spite of the rhapsodies of the motoring correspondents: have they ever panned any new car in living memory?) should be regarded with suitable mistrust, and that the best cars should almost; like the best clarets, improve with the years.
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