The Ford Mustang is without a doubt American. For decades, the iconic muscle car of the Blue Oval rumbled across the streets and really shaped what consumers were looking for in a car. But as time went on, both consumers and manufacturers shifted to larger cars, which led to the crossover boom – and soon the Mustang will be Ford’s last car. But there’s good news. A new report from Automotive News indicates that Ford plans to maintain the Mustang nameplate by at least 2030, following the release of the next-generation platform.
In line with previous reports, the seventh iteration of Ford’s iconic muscle car – code-named the S650 – is slated to hit dealerships in late 2022. New information has come to light that Ford told its suppliers that the new Mustang would be expected to go into production for eight years, an increase beyond the previous designation of a six-year platform lifespan.
Suppliers are now being commissioned to pony the goods to reach a production capacity of nearly 100,000 units of the S650 per year, a total of 77,000 coupes and 20,000 convertibles. It is expected that Ford will also move the Mustang to the same rear-wheel drive and all-wheel-drive architecture, shared by the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, which could mean some extra bloat for the new platform.
While it is perfectly normal for motorists to extend or shorten the product life of a car, it is no secret that Ford wanted to get out of the car game for a while. Indeed, extending Mustang production goes against almost every other decision on the lineup it has made over the last several years. The motorist has been slowly cleaning up his lineup of cars from North American soil in favor of crossovers and generally larger cars. Most recently, Ford announced the discontinuation of the only new sedan it sells, the Fusion, which means that unless something changes between now and 2030, the Mustang will likely live its stay as the only car in the domestic lineup. of the company.
Some Ford executives are seriously looking at the future of the Mustang beyond the S650 and predict the placement of the red in Ford’s high-rise lineup. Perhaps the Mustang Mach-E is an indication of the brand’s advancing philosophy and is an attempt to soften the blow of a model drop. Keep in mind that the Mustang almost went the way of the probe, so changes that seem impossible may not have been so bizarre.
While the future may be blurry, we can at least celebrate the fact that Ford will keep a smaller two-door coupe in its lineup for at least the next decade.
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