• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • South Korean Brands Get Bigger Share of January Sales
  • Investors Unfazed as Tesla Reveals New SEC Probe
  • GM and Lithium Americas Partner for U.S.-Sourced Lithium
  • First Look: 2024 Range Rover Velar
  • Q&A: Mazda North America’s CEO Jeff Guyton
  • Tesla Owners Stung by Capitalism
  • Mercedes Updates GLE Models for 2024 Model Year
  • First Look: Mazda’s Bigger, More Luxurious New CX-90
  • GM Net Income Rises for Q4 But Falls for Full Year 2022
  • GMC Launches Production of Hummer SUV; Needs Until 2024 to Fill Outstanding Orders
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Z71
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Walking a Tightrope: Ford Trying to Please All with New Mustang Variants

        Walking a Tightrope: Ford Trying to Please All with New Mustang Variants

        The original pony car continues to draw new fans.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        April 18, 2018
        The Ford Mustang is celebrating 54 years, and the current best-selling sports car in the world intends to remain so.

        (This story has been updated with new information.)

        You can’t stand still in the muscle car market. What’s hot today could be all but forgotten tomorrow. That’s something Ford Motor Co. learned when rival General Motors brought back the Chevrolet Camaro in 2010, delivering a sucker punch to the long-dominant Ford Mustang.

        Since launching an all-new version of the Mustang to mark the nameplate’s 50th anniversary four years ago, Ford has retaken its crown as king of the pony car hill. It has now been the world’s best-selling sports car for three years in a row.

        More Than Just Headlines!

        And Ford is determined to maintain that lead with a series of Mustang variants set to come to market during the next 18 months. That includes not only the latest version of the GT500 but a first-ever Mustang hybrid.

        To some pony car fans, the addition of a gas-electric model borders on sacrilege, but it underscores the challenges the Detroit automaker faces in a rapidly changing auto industry. Carmakers not only have to keep on top of shifting consumer tastes, but also cope with new government regulations, including stiffer emissions and fuel economy standards. That mix of factors can pose quite a challenge when you’re dealing with a product as iconic as Mustang.

        (Mustang: World’s best-selling sports car three years in a row. Click Here to read the story.)

        Ford employees, friends and fans celebrated the 54th anniversary of the Mustang at the Glass House.

        “Mustang will continue to evolve and strike the right balance between heritage and being contemporary and fitting into today’s society,” Corey Holter, the Ford Group Marketing manager who oversees the muscle car, told TheDetroitBureau.com during an event celebrating Mustang’s 54th anniversary.

        The need to honor the car’s heritage became particularly clear with the launch of the latest Mustang. While Ford designers tried to sidestep the overused term, retro, they clearly tried to pick up on the original ’64-1/2 Mustang’s iconic design cues – a strategy that GM designers used successfully when relaunching Camaro after a seven-year absence.

        Mustang’s current success certainly depended upon getting the design right, but there have been other factors at work, including significant improvements in its performance and handling. Among other things credit one notable break from tradition: adding an independent rear suspension for the first time to a mainstream version of the 2+2.

        Meanwhile, Ford has steadily upped the performance quotient, the latest version of the GT is now the most powerful ever. And, let’s face it, muscle is number one for many fans in this segment.

        So, Ford is far from done beefing things up. Among the new variants in the works, the upcoming GT500 is being teased as “the most powerful street-legal Mustang ever,” Ford hinting it will deliver “over 700 horsepower.” How much more? Insiders suggest it will comfortably push past the Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat models currently rated at 707 hp, though not the 840 hp Dodge Demon that’s primarily targeted at drag strip fans.

        (Click Here for a look at how Germans love the Mustang.)

        Even while pushing the limits with its classic 5.0-liter V-8 powertrain, Mustang will shift into a new direction with the debut of its first-ever hybrid model due out sometime during the 2020 calendar year as a 2021 model.

        As with the GT500, Ford is being coy with details, though the company stresses that this won’t be a pony car take on the Toyota Prius. Yes, you can expect it will deliver the best mileage ever for a Mustang, we’re promised, but Ford is also hinting the gas-electric pony car will deliver “V-8 levels of power and even more torque.”

        Ford already found a ready market for those seeking to balance mileage and muscle when it introduced its first EcoBoost-powered Mustang a few years back. It has proved especially popular as the automaker has started targeting European markets, as well as China, and “a hybrid Mustang will help further unlock Mustang’s potential in some of those markets,” Holter told TheDetroitBureau.com.

        That’s the sort of formula Ford will have to keep in mind as it begins working on the next-generation Mustang due to market early in the coming decade. Ford will be weighing a variety of options going forward, even all-wheel-drive, though Holter sees that as unlikely. There’s even the possibility of an all-electric Mustang, several senior Ford sources have told TheDetroitBureau.com, perhaps no surprise considering a number of other manufacturers are considering that concept — and that Ford in January announced plans for an all-electric supercar it has tentatively dubbed the Mach 1. (Coming in 2020, that model is expected to be an SUV.)

        But Mustang buyers are both loyal and deeply wedded to tradition, so making too many radical changes could leave them perplexed, confused, even angry. And considering a full third of buyers add a Mustang to their existing personal fleet, the wrong move could be disastrous, as Ford has learned throughout the years with faulty moves like the legendarily flawed Mustang II.

        (To see Ford going California dreaming with special edition Mustang, Click Here.)

        Expect to see future Mustangs make “additive” changes, says Holter, to improve the successful formula that has worked so well with the latest-generation pony car, rather than asking buyers to sacrifice the looks, performance and features they’ve come to expect and love.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2023 Toyota Corolla Hatchback SE front REL

        South Korean Brands Get Bigger Share of January Sales

        Today
        Tesla Gigafactory Austin_01

        Investors Unfazed as Tesla Reveals New SEC Probe

        Today
        GM and Lithium Americas

        GM and Lithium Americas Partner for U.S.-Sourced Lithium

        Today

        3 responses to “Walking a Tightrope: Ford Trying to Please All with New Mustang Variants”

        1. KEN LICHTIG says:
          April 18, 2018 at 7:16 pm

          Add a Lincoln Cougar variant

          Reply
        2. Dick says:
          April 19, 2018 at 6:21 am

          I’ve been a Mustang fan for years, but there is something about the latest version that leaves me cold. Shedding a few (9-10) hundred pounds would help.

          Reply
          1. Paul A. Eisenstein says:
            April 19, 2018 at 10:53 am

            Ford has always had a problem with adding mass and it is just beginning to address that. (Recall what happened when it brought out the second “Aero”-Thunderbird in the ’80s, the added weight killing its performance.) I’d like to see them really lighten up Mustang, too, though the ’18 GT is amazingly good with its MagneRide suspension.

            Paul E.

            Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: