Although electrification and, possibly, a four-door are coming to the Ford Mustang, a pure electric version is off the table.
At the annual Goodwood Members’ Meeting Ford CEO Jim Farley told Autocar, “We will never build a Mustang that isn’t a Mustang”, such as a “small, two-row Ford SUV with a Mustang badge stuck on it”.
Other body styles, including “a four-door or whatever”, could be a Mustang so long as these cars have “the performance and attitude of the original”.
He later went on to state, “One thing I can promise, however, is that we will never make an all-electric Mustang”. This obviously raises the question of the Mustang Mach-E crossover, and whether it is a “true” Mustang.
It’s possible Ford’s CEO was thinking of the current Mustang two-door range, and any possible future derivatives.
Even with a Mustang EV sports car ruled out for now, a hybrid Mustang might not be too far away. According to Mr Farley the company has been testing hybrid drivetrains for the Mustang, and he believes “partial electric powertrains work well for performance drivers”.
Although Ford seems to be willing to push the core Mustang brand in new directions, Mr Farley promised Ford would continue to build Mustangs with V8 engines and manual transmissions “as long as God and the politicians let us”.
“Am I not a real Mustang?”
The CEO believes Ford will be able to keep the V8 dream alive for longer than specialist brands because it can offset the emissions of its eight-cylinder models with a wider pool of pure electric cars, vans, and pickup trucks.
Another certainty in the Mustang’s future are “derivatives that will surprise people”, although they may not be as extreme as the 600kW US$300,000 ($448,000) Mustang GTD unveiled late last year.
Once place the Mustang pony car probably won’t tread, though, is off road. Mr Farley said he’s “not so sure” whether it’s wise for the Mustang to chase the Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato.
MORE: Everything Ford Mustang
