Ford (F) CEO Jim Farley says he's open to expanding the offerings of their most iconic sports model, but will stop short of offering it as an EV — that's if he hasn't already.
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Speaking to Autocar at the recent Goodwood Member's Meeting, Farley talked at length about the future of Ford's Mustang — the legendary pony car that turned 60 years old last month.
As the Mustang has enjoyed global success throughout its storied history, the Ford CEO hinted that the lineup could grow beyond its current offerings, including new body styles such as a four-door sedan. As per Farley, he is open to radical new models, as long as they uphold the performance goals that a name like Mustang can offer.
“We will never build a Mustang that isn’t a Mustang,” he told Autocar. “For instance, there will never be room for a small, two-row Ford SUV with a Mustang badge stuck on it. But could we do other Mustang body forms – a four-door or whatever? I believe we could, as long as these models have all the performance and attitude of the original.”
An electric Mustang?
Although he mentioned that Ford intends to keep gas-guzzling V8s and cumbersome manual transmissions in production for “as long as God and the politicians let us," he noted that future Mustangs might get electrification, but stopped short of any plans for an all-electric Mustang.
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“We’ve been testing and we really do believe partial electric powertrains work well for performance drivers," Farley said. “One thing I can promise, however, is that we will never make an all-electric Mustang.”
“I look at other users of pure-electric power such as Formula E, and even companies like Rimac, and I just don’t think that would be right for Mustang. Great for other Fords – look at the worldwide success of [the E-Transit cargo van] – but not for Mustang.”
What a coincidence:
Funny enough, Ford does make an "all-electric Mustang," as well as "a small, two-row Ford SUV with a Mustang badge stuck on it." In fact, they're the same car.
It's called the Ford Mustang Mach-E, an all-electric crossover SUV that Farley himself has credited for allowing the Blue Oval to "sell ICE vehicles for a long time to come."
While it wasn't exactly clarified in the interview, it is very safe to assume that Farley meant that electric motors and batteries won't take the place of loud, roaring V8s and the zippy turbocharged EcoBoost under the long hoods of 2-door Mustang fastbacks and drop-tops any time soon.
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Performance is the name of the game:
Farley noted that he intends to expand the Mustang brand by making more versions of the coupe and convertible Mustang sports car in the same vein as Porsche's 911. Throughout the years, the German brand has been able to create buzz with its 911 sports car by creating a garden variety consisting of high-end models like the Turbo, as well as lightweight, track-ready models like the GT3 RS.
“Porsche has been smart about creating derivatives [of the 911] over the past 20 years,” he said. “But we wouldn’t want to do things their way. We want to give them a good, American-style run for their money.”
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Already, Ford is pushing its pony car to compete against hardcore supercars with its $325,000 Mustang GTD, an 800 horsepower track monster inspired by GT3 race cars. Farley calls the GTD a "down payment" on future 'hardcore Mustangs' that can attract a new set of buyers to the V8 pony car.
“We won’t stop with the GTD,” he said. “At our best, we are an irreverent company. We need to keep doing derivatives that will surprise people.”
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