Ford to reveal next generation Mustang on 5 Dec 2013

[irocfan]

LuS1fer said:

To be honest, RHD may be a bonus but I am more interested in whether Ford will be obliged to service the warranty on imported LHD cars.

there'll be some wriggle out clause

[rix]

Any dates on when the new car will be available to order/spec/drive/deliver!

How long after the US will they come to the UK?

Is the coupe likely to come before the convertible? Any prices confirmed?

Since the pre release hype on the ford website it seems to have gone very quiet on developments

[Regiment]

If it's anything like the US, the Coupe will come a few months before the Convertable and it's supposedly be available in RHD by early next year. We're still waiting on horse power figures though for all 3 engines.

[Matt Harper]

Regiment said:

We're still waiting on horse power figures though for all 3 engines.

Eco=305 V6=305 V8=420

[Regiment]

Matt Harper said:

Eco=305 V6=305 V8=420

They're preliminary, Ford have said it'd be 305+ for the Ecoboost and V6 and 420+ for the V8. There is a rumour that Ford will release official numbers today/tomorrow but that the V8 might be closer to 450.

[irocfan]

and as usual furd show its contempt for potential UK customers!

http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?61917-2...

[LuS1fer]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/ford-announces...

Official figures in:
V6 - 300 (down from 305 - go figure)
Ecoboost - 310 but 36lbs heavier than a 305hp 2014 V6.
GT - 435 - 15hp more than the 2014 but 87lbs heavier - that's over 6 stone extra to haul round.

So in addition to the corporate Ford styling, it's another reason to say no.

[Regiment]

What's the whole point of the V6, I think it's the cheapest model but it'll be more expensive to tax than the ecoboost, less power and less mpg than the ecoboost. Should have scrapped the V6 and gone for a V8 and a supercharged V8.

[LuS1fer]

Regiment said:

What's the whole point of the V6, I think it's the cheapest model but it'll be more expensive to tax than the ecoboost, less power and less mpg than the ecoboost. Should have scrapped the V6 and gone for a V8 and a supercharged V8.

Not so sure about that. It remains lighter and I recall them crowing about making 31 US mpg when it was launched. I'll take a V6 over a turbo four any day.

[Roo]

As the V6 won't be offered in the UK it doesn't relly matter.

[ukcobra]

irocfan said:

and as usual furd show its contempt for potential UK customers!

http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?61917-2...

And now resolved as Ford have diverted a car for us.

[irocfan]

ukcobra said:

irocfan said:

and as usual furd show its contempt for potential UK customers!

http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?61917-2...

And now resolved as Ford have diverted a car for us.

as I said on t'other site - can't argue Ford's response on this one. A good lesson for most companies on how to behave if you've dropped one! WELL DONE FORD ! Still think it looks like a generic coupe - but then I'm not their target demo

[ukcobra]

irocfan said:

there'll be some wriggle out clause

I would imagine under EU regulations, LHD Imported cars from Europe will have UK warranty support. LHD cars grey-imported from North America probably will not get the same benefit.

[cardigankid]

Roo said:

I haven't seen anything about RHD Mustangs being spotted anywhere.

The launch tonight is a pre-order process only. If you manage to get on the list Ford will contact you next week and the car is due to be released here sometime next year and you're very limited as to what you can order.

US dealers aren't allowed to sell tax free for export, it's against their franchise agreements.

Some things I don't understand about Ford.

I assume that the car will sell like hot cakes in the States with the V8 engine. Do they honestly think Europeans are going to go wild for gutless small engined versions. I assume you guys buy American cars because they are American, not because they are almost European.

This is going to be a high volume car or it is going to be a failure? So why market it in the UK as a small volume specialist item which it isn't and and a market it can't compete in?

They go on, repeatedly about taking the 'Mustang' brand global then they show zero understanding of what that brand means in the markets they are supposed to be targeting.

Why are they making it hard to get? Do they want to sell them or don't they? This is a car which should be accessible and easily personalised.

If this is a 35k muscle car, I'm in. If it's competing with Porsche, Jaguar or Aston Martin, it can't cut it.

[Jimbeaux]

cardigankid said:

Roo said:

I haven't seen anything about RHD Mustangs being spotted anywhere.

The launch tonight is a pre-order process only. If you manage to get on the list Ford will contact you next week and the car is due to be released here sometime next year and you're very limited as to what you can order.

US dealers aren't allowed to sell tax free for export, it's against their franchise agreements.

Some things I don't understand about Ford.

I assume that the car will sell like hot cakes in the States with the V8 engine. Do they honestly think Europeans are going to go wild for gutless small engined versions. I assume you guys buy American cars because they are American, not because they are almost European.

This is going to be a high volume car or it is going to be a failure? So why market it in the UK as a small volume specialist item which it isn't and and a market it can't compete in?

They go on, repeatedly about taking the 'Mustang' brand global then they show zero understanding of what that brand means in the markets they are supposed to be targeting.

Why are they making it hard to get? Do they want to sell them or don't they? This is a car which should be accessible and easily personalised.

If this is a 35k muscle car, I'm in. If it's competing with Porsche, Jaguar or Aston Martin, it can't cut it.

I think they will sell the V8 in Europe for those who buy it for what it is, an American muscle car. The twin turbo 4 banger is for those who only want that type set up. Perhaps trying to cater to both groups. The bells and whistles along with new suspension are upgrades for the price as well.

[cardigankid]

My worry, Jim, is that they will try to market it as an expensive niche product. A Roush or Shelby Cobra product, yes, but is that your straight out of the box Mustang? What would you say if Ford asked you for $100k for a Mustang? That's what happens to us on this side of the pond.

Some Marketing cock thinks the Europeans will pay us three times the price for a niche product. But it is what it is, and they don't sell. If they adopted the same approach in the UK as they do in the USA everyone would be driving 'Stangs and they really would be onto something.

[cardigankid]

PS I still don't understand the target market for the 4 cylinder motor. Is it people who want to look as if they are driving a muscle car? Is it for good ole boys who have suddenly gone environmental? Is it because they think Europeans only buy small displacement turbos?

Personally, for me, if it hasn't got a reasonably big V8 in it they can stuff it sideways where the sun don't shine.

[cardigankid]

They have been at this for years.

I remember the fantastic 1970 Mustang Mach 1, the James Bond edition. They could have sold those like hot cakes over here. But next thing you know you can't get that, they are selling the Mustang Grande, which was nowhere near as sexy, and shortly after that a smaller ordinary looking underpowered thing with no charisma at all. Surprise surprise it didn't sell. Excitement free trash.

[LuS1fer]

cardigankid said:

They have been at this for years.

I remember the fantastic 1970 Mustang Mach 1, the James Bond edition. They could have sold those like hot cakes over here. But next thing you know you can't get that, they are selling the Mustang Grande, which was nowhere near as sexy, and shortly after that a smaller ordinary looking underpowered thing with no charisma at all. Surprise surprise it didn't sell. Excitement free trash.

1973 and the Mustang II came out in 1974.
Nothing sold because, in the UK, we had strikes and everyone thought the oil was running out and we had a massive fuel crisis and queues for petrol and fuel rationing. You could buy an XJ12 for pennies because nobody wanted them and Allegros, Escorts and Minis were very much the order of the day.
The Mustang II sold quite well in the US.

In many ways, Ford have been clever with the car because it has had to treat it like a chameleon. The original was a low power 6 cylinder convertible. It grew into a pony/muscle car and the got slaughtered by the switch to unleaded and low compression in 1972. The Mustang II had to be lighter and smaller and we then had the Fox body Mustangs. V8s have come and gone and been as low as 145hp and as high as 662hp. The car has adapted to survive.

Don't forget that it has nearly always outsold the combined figures of Camaro and Firebird 2 to 1 (until the current model) and the Firebird is dead and the Camaro had a long holiday after 2002. in truth, the Camaro and the Challenger owe their existence to the success of the Mustang. Even as a GM fan, I have to tip my hat to Ford and acknowledge that debt because when they reinvented the Mustang in 2004,they could have sat back but instead pushed up the ante with the GT500 and they've never stopped raising the betting. If it had been left to GM and there had been no 2004 Mustang, we'd probably still be driving a revised C5.

[Jimbeaux]

cardigankid said:

My worry, Jim, is that they will try to market it as an expensive niche product. A Roush or Shelby Cobra product, yes, but is that your straight out of the box Mustang? What would you say if Ford asked you for $100k for a Mustang? That's what happens to us on this side of the pond.

Some Marketing cock thinks the Europeans will pay us three times the price for a niche product. But it is what it is, and they don't sell. If they adopted the same approach in the UK as they do in the USA everyone would be driving 'Stangs and they really would be onto something.

I understand your concern, I hope that does not happen. It does need to be marketd there as here, a muscle car for the masses, bang for the buck. As in the US, one can buy a base model GT and have plenty of V8 power or one can access the extensive aftermarket and have a world class drive for surprisingly little extra cash. The Stang is a blank canvas, ready for driver customization. The standard features coming on the 2015 are far less "base" than in years before BTW.