Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

118 BRAND RELEVANCE
models. It was reminiscent of the inexpensive Swatch watch,
which expanded the watch market without affecting the sales of
the established Swiss watch manufacturers.
Demand was so strong that 206,000 people applied for a lottery
to see who would get the fi rst 100,000 cars during a three -
week window in April 2009. A year later 45,000 cars had been
delivered.
Yugo
Before the Nano was the Yugo, from Yugoslavia, which sold
some 150,000 cars between 1985 and 1992. 12 A loser of historic
proportions, it was poorly built, unsafe, broke down frequently,
got poor gas mileage, and was dirty with respect to emissions.
Over the years it has been repeatedly recognized with titles
like “ the worst car ever sold in America. ” There was no end to
Yugo jokes.
• What is included in every Yugo manual? Ans: A bus
schedule.
• What do a Yugo and a ceiling fan have in common? Ans:
They both have the same motor.
• How do you make a Yugo go from 0 to 60 in under fi fteen
seconds? Ans: Push it off a cliff.
• How do you make a Yugo go fast? Ans: Use a tow truck.
• What do you call a Yugo with brakes? Ans: Customized.
The Yugo started off with excitement and sales. It had an
auspicious introduction, with coverage in the media, lines at
dealerships, favorable reviews from people who had not had a
chance to drive the car, and a remarkable promoter. It was the
fastest - selling fi rst - year European import in U.S. history. But
most of this excitement was in place before the car arrived.
In fact, the scarcity helped the hype.