Ford Edsel (1958)

Ford earns another mention on this list with the introduction of the Ford Edsel in 1958. Initially, Ford seemed to have a solid approach, polling numerous car buyers from previous years to gauge what drivers were looking for in new vehicles. Despite gathering valuable insights, Ford chose to disregard much of this data during the development of the Edsel.

Compounding the issue, Ford spent a full year hyping the Edsel as a revolutionary vehicle, setting high expectations among the public. However, the final product starkly contradicted both the anticipatory marketing and the customer feedback collected. When launched, many drivers were disappointed to find the Edsel unattractive and poorly designed, falling short of their expectations in nearly every way.