DEARBORN, Mich. - America’s first pony car - the Ford Mustang - is celebrating its 50th birthday with a new design and plans to go global.
Ford Motor Co. revealed the 2015 Mustang on Thursday at events in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Sydney, Barcelona and its hometown of Dearborn. It goes on sale next fall in North America and will reach Europe and Asia in 2015.
“Mustang cuts to the heart and soul of our company and really represents our company at its best,” Ford Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields told dealers and employees gathered in Dearborn to see the new car.
The Mustang isn’t anywhere near Ford’s best-seller. Ford sells more pickups in a week than it does Mustangs in a month. But Ford said Mustang has the highest name recognition and highest favorable opinion of any of its cars. And car companies count on sports cars to cast a glow over the rest of their lineup.
The Mustang’s first full redesign since 2005 presented Ford with a tough task: Update and freshen an icon without alienating its fans. More than 9 million Mustangs have been sold since 1964, and the car has more than 300 fan clubs around the world, including one in Iceland and one solely for owners of yellow Mustangs.
The new car takes plenty of cues from the old. The long hood and sloping fastback are still there, as is the trapezoid shaped grille with the Mustang logo from the original. But the new car sits lower and wider, and the roof tapers dramatically in the front and back.
The signature rounded headlights are smaller and the traditional three-bar taillights are tucked beneath the rear deck lid.
This new generation of Mustang has been engineered to meet various international safety and emissions standards. A right-hand-drive version will be sold in the United Kingdom and Australia, and Ford will market the car more heavily overseas.
Ford design chief J Mays said that while international needs were taken into account, the design wasn’t influenced by European or Asian sensibilities.
“The reason they love it is because of its Americanness,” he said.
Still, Stephanie Brinley, an auto analyst with the consulting company IHS, expects modest overseas sales. IHS forecasts European Mustang sales will triple from current levels to around 2,500 in 2015, while sales in China likely will remain low because two-door coupes aren’t popular there.
Coupes make up less than 1 percent of sales annually across the globe, Brinley said. But they’re still an important car for automakers.
“It’s an aspirational body style. It signals a sporty drive and a sexier product,” she said.
Ford hopes Mustang can become the top-selling pony car in the U.S. The Chevrolet Camaro, which followed the Mustang to market in 1966 and was last redesigned in 2009, has outsold its rival for the past three years and is on track to do it again this year, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Business, Pages 23 on 12/06/2013