Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company is pondering an expanded Mustang range that includes a four-door for the first time. Mind you, they’ve been talking about a four-door Ford Mustang since 2018.
Speaking to UK Autocar, Farley said that new derivatives would only be accepted if they had the “performance and attitude” of existing models. He said the company would never do a Mustang SUV – the Mach-E doesn’t count – but a four-door is a possibility.
Any expansion phase must make new models accessible to traditional buyers. That said, additions to the range would be more upmarket, like Porsche does with its myriad 911 models.
One way of keeping costs down while increasing performance is to cut weight and a development programme is already under way exploring how they can achieve this.
“We need to keep doing derivatives that will surprise people” said Farley, referring to specials like the GTD.
Asked about an off-road derivative akin to the 911 Dakar, he replied “I’m not so sure about that.” However, Farley did say that Ford intends to continue building V8s “as long as God and the politicians let us”. Ford is also developing a supporting range of pure-EV models that will provide fleet offsets needed to keep its ICE-powered siblings in production.
Future Mustangs, however, are more likely to offer hybrid power, to reduce carbon emissions and improve performance. Farley commented “We believe partial electric powertrains work well for performance drivers.”
However, he did rule out an all-electric Mustang given the company already has the Mach-E electric SUV.
Farley has been rebuilding Ford’s model range since he took over the reins in 2020. He sees the Mustang’s success as a big win for the firm. Taking Mustang global in 2015 was risky but it paid off, he said.
Nowadays some of our biggest dealers are in countries like Australia. “I’d say Mustang’s future has never been brighter.”
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