Mustang purists are still feeling the sting of Ford adding a four-door SUV to the Mustang line. Many feel that the name should only be placed on the two-door, rear-wheel-drive sports car that we all know and love. According to Ford’s European Design head, Murat Gueler, the addition of the Mustang Mach-E has opened the door to an entire Mustang performance sub-brand.
Gueler recently had an interview with Autocar, where they talk about the Mustang Mach-E and what the future holds for the Mustang brand in general. He says there is “a lot of emotion” with Mustang and that it was time to “progress that and make it spread wider.” The designer added that Ford has talked about building a family around the Mustang brand, and the Mach-E is the vehicle that opened that door.
He says that people understand now that “we can do different things to different nameplates quite successfully.” He did say that the automaker won’t produce different Mustang-inspired EV models of different sizes that all look the same. Gueler says that if the automaker did a smaller EV than the Mach-E, it would have different proportions.
Our take is this; only the most ardent of Mustang fans have had an issue with Ford calling the Mach-E a Mustang. The rest of the automotive world don’t seem to mind the name. We fully expect that the majority acceptance of the Mach-E as a Mustang will result in other offshoots. We expect to see an electric Mustang at some point; this is virtually guaranteed since Ford is going about its electrification from a performance standpoint.
We know that Ford has talked about a four-door Mustang in the past, and we expect that car to bow in eventually. Mustang is profitable, and Ford wants, and NEEDS, that money. With Ford ditching all its cars in the U.S., we could see the automaker bringing in a four-door version of the Mustang to win buyers back.
Ford could offer it in an extremely fuel-efficient hybrid with a lowish price to win back some of the car buyers that are going to Honda and Toyota. That same car could also be offered with the same trimmings as a GT for Mustang fans who can no longer fit a two-door into their lifestyle. With the door open, thanks to Mach-E, we feel like these cars are a near certainty.
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Source: Autocar
Comments
It will be interesting to see what other models they do produce and if they made them all different(at least they can’t be equsied of produceing clones of the same vechiel) but keep some of the mustang styling I think people will buy them.
“Ford could offer it in an extremely fuel-efficient hybrid with a lowish price to win back some of the car buyers that are going to Honda and Toyota. ” Ford already has a hybrid four door sedan that meets all those features: the Fusion. It is safer and easier to make the Fusion look more like the Mustang than create a brand new sedan. Keep the Fusion with more engine options, including a turbocharged V6, and in the future make it an EV, replacing the engine with a bigger battery.
Honestly, This is a good thing. As I’ve commented elsewhere I would love to see a CD6 platform gran-coupe mustang, similar to a BMW 8-series gran coupe. Although I’m sure the V8 engines will probably be around in some for, I’m looking forward to seeing a 3.5L Ecoboost V6 under the hood of this car. The car should have a revised intake manifold similar to the one on the Ford GT, just not as tall so it will still fit under the hood along with a set of tuned length turbo manifolds. The car should also have the 10-speed automatic with an optional 7-speed DCT, an AWD system (non hybrid), an optional titanium performance exhaust by Akrapovic with quad tips, GT350 Spec Brembo brakes, GT350 spec suspension, upgraded aerodynamics, functional hood, current GT350 style rear spoiler, Recaro seating, the new Mustang MAch E steering wheel (alcantara w/ flat bottom), digital dash, upgraded B&O stereo system, sunroof, Sync-4, the MAch-E style taillamps with a black and red housing, Mach-E style headlamps, current GT500 styling cues, staggered 20″ wheels, heated seats, Blind spot monitoring, etc. The Base gasoline mustang should come with the 400hp 3.0L twin turbo, there should be a 3.0L Hybrid, and at the top of the list, a supercharged 5.0L V8.
Would like to see that, an actual coupe, a shooting brake, an electric SUV and a performance SUV with all of those engine options.
Another good thing about this new mustang family of vehicles is that it moves ford away from making boring failure, front wheel drive cars like the Fusion. The fusion has failed to meet the demands of buyers for years, Loosing to nearly every car in the segment including the likes of the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord and the Nissan Maxima, usually beating out it’s only American rival, the even more boring Chevrolet Malibu. The reason why American car manufacturers are considering dropping their car lineups is because very few make worthwhile cars. Ford’s only worthwhile car is the Mustang and has been for a long time. The Focus was a decent small car and the Taurus was almost good. Chevrolet had two good cars (okay 3) the Camaro, the SS Sedan and the Corvette. If it wasn’t for the fact that Dodge is so crappy, the Challenger and Charger would be great cars. Honestly, I applaud Ford for finally getting rid of it’s boring, ugly, useless FWD lineup and hopefully, they will get their act together and make nearly everything on the CD6 platform, make everything RWD based and give it AWD if need be. You’ll have better cars, happier technicians and you’ll save alot of money and make a lot of money because more people will want to buy your cars. Ever notice that BMWs are nearly all RWD? Most cars from Mercedes Benz are RWD because they make for a better car that is easier to work on and easier to maintain and gives for a better overall feel even if the car has an AWD system. Best Hybrid system Ford has right now is the one in the Aviator with the 10-speed auto hybrid drive system. You can do that with the Mustang, explorer, expedition, ranger, Bronco and F150 and never miss a beat and all of those vehicles should be able to use the 3.0L twin turbo V6 for the hybrid setup. Honestly, I say ford drop every engine that’s smaller than the 3.0L Ecoboost from the lineup completely, and just had the 3.0L Ecoboost V6 be the base engine, have the 3.0L Hybrid setup, step up to different variations of the 3.5L Ecoboost and lastly different variations of the 5.0L Coyote including a supercharged 5.0L in the top of the line performance cars and then have your electric powertrains and your heavy duty powertrains including the 7.3L Godzilla and the powerstroke engines including the 3.0L Powerstroke and the V8 powerstroke. Transmissions should include the 7-speed DCT, the 10-speed auto, the 10-speed hybrid, a 10-speed diesel and a HD transmission for the 7.3L. Platforms should include the CD6, a platform dedicated for small electric cars/crossovers, the Ranger/Bronco platform, the F150/Expedition platform and the HD platform. It honestly simplifies everything and now you have everything needed, efficiency, power, good platforms and a lineup that pleases the masses.
The Fusion is a very good car actually as good as any japennes car and in some respects better.Ford need to produce small as well big engines to cater for all countries and regions.You should do your own car company if you think that.
Oh and the focus and feista are brilliant front wheel drive cars.
What Ford is doing with the Mustang name, the Mach-E should be named The Mustang III. The whole new car line and design but let’s play on a successful name known world wide. I hope it works out for Ford, this country needs to be the #1 auto manufacturer in the world.
Chevrolet should produce an EV and name it Impala. Impala was GM’s most popular car line for almost twenty years then they added some trim and renamed it the Caprice. It went down hill after that.