- Ford might be planning four-door and off-roading versions of its iconic Mustang sports car.
- A report from Automotive News suggests Ford showed mockups of the cars to dealers during an event in Las Vegas.
- The report also suggests these new mustang variants will be combustion-powered, rather than EVs.
In a recent meeting with its national network of dealers, a smattering of Ford executives reportedly unveiled full-sized mockups and concept renderings of both a sedan version of the Mustang as well as an all-wheel-drive off-road trim. There was some other less interesting news, too, but if the report from Automotive News is to be believed, those two cars are likely to enter production.
Ford reportedly sent its C-Suite heavyweights, including CEO Jim Farley and executive chairman Bill Ford, to the Las Vegas conference. Details on the new Mustang models are still slim, but the scant information reported by AN points to both models being powered by internal combustion engines.
The sedan is allegedly called the "Mach 4", while the safari-like model was left unnamed. Beyond AWD and big tires, little is known about the vehicle. It's unclear which models were presented as full-sized mockups or strictly digital renderings.
CEO Farley thinks it's a good idea to double down on the Mustang brand while others, including General Motors, abandon muscle cars. Chevrolet canned the Camaro last year, and the new Dodge Charger is six-cylinder or electric only.
On the face of it, more ICE models can't hurt Ford. The electric side of its business, Model E, is losing money hand over fist. Ford is the second largest EV manufacturer in the United States by volume, sure, but it trails Tesla by hundreds of thousands of units and is, as previously mentioned, remarkably unprofitable. The company needs more money to support this side of the business.
As such, another portion of the presentation concerned the company's ongoing efforts to develop a low-cost EV platform to underpin a series of likewise inexpensive cars. How far along that program is beyond the prototype stage was not made clear to dealers. The footnotes included a small commercial vehicle based on the Maverick to replace the Transit Connect, and potential new trims of the current Mustang.
If Ford was truly making a V-8-powered sedan, and it sounds like it probably will, the relevancy of tacking "Mustang" onto it is questionable. Ford is the only entity that can truly call anything a Mustang. Still, the pony car has only ever been one thing, and the cynical ploy to call an electric crossover a Mustang justifiably blindsided diehard fans of the car. This has not dissuaded the company, however, as it recently gave the Ford Capri the same treatment.
