Ford will reportedly whip the covers from a new Mustang at the 2022 Detroit motor show – which will take place from September 14 rather than its traditional snowy January time slot.
This news is coming from the influential Automotive News industry site over in the States, which cites a well-placed but unnamed person professing to have “knowledge of the plans”.
The new Ford Mustang, codename S650, is expected to enter production in the first half of 2023, which if true would suggest a likely Australian launch no sooner than late next year.
The outgoing six-generation Mustang debuted in late 2013 and hit the Aussie market in 2015.
Outgoing Mustang
Ever since then it has been the country’s top-selling sports car by some margin, and at times times has been Ford Australia’s second top-seller overall behind the all-conquering Ranger.
The S650 will reportedly have an eight-year lifecycle which is roughly the same as the previous two Mustang generations.
Ford has already said it will again make the new model at its Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan – subject to an array of recent multi-billion dollar factory upgrades.
Leaked S650 Mustang
Ford also specifically called it “Mustang coupe” when discussing 2023 production plans, which calls into question the timeline around any convertible offering.
The new rear-wheel drive Mustang will remain internal combustion-powered in its seventh-generation guise – smart money has the car using reworked versions of the existing 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbo-four and 5.0-litre V8 – though a hybrid is reportedly being worked on for a later arrival.
Therefore it will look to complement the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, instead of competing against it.
Ford-supplied teaser
It’s also a given that Ford will still offer a six-speed manual gearbox option, having confirmed as much with a teaser image released this June. See the H-pattern in the word ‘generation’ above?
We’ve already seen some leaked exterior images, detailed here.
Naturally, you should expect to see some substantial interior upgrades with more modern infotainment, as well as enhanced safety that hopefully means it’ll perform better in ANCAP testing than the outgoing model.
As reported recently, current Ford Mustang orders have been paused in Australia as a result of the ongoing chip shortage, taking the market’s top-selling sports car off the table for the time being.
MORE: Everything Ford Mustang
