In the late 1950s, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel, a car that failed so spectacularly it became synonymous with a corporate cluelessness. For two decades, the Edsel reigned as one of the most boneheaded blunders in all of automotive manufacturing. But in the mid-80s, the Edsel was usurped by an even more disastrous debut: the Yugo. It was an ugly car made cheaply in a communist country. What could possibly go wrong?
Nearly everything. From sub-par craftsmanship and disastrous safety ratings to gross corporate mismanagement and Cold War distrust, the Yugo is remembered best today not for its brief success but for its dismal failure. But if the Yugo was a lemon, Jason Vuic’s surprising page-turner is the lemonade: even though we know how it’s going to end (watch out for the iceberg, Yugo!), we’re held rapt by Vuic’s careful reconstruction of the peculiar history of a terrible idea.
