Big mistake on the horizon...

[torchred v6]

Ford Mustang's new European look: A big mistake?


The Detroit auto giant is preparing to overhaul an American icon, even though many middle-aged fans may not be ready for an update.


By TheWeek.com 8 hours ago

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Few things are more classically American than a Ford Mustang (F +0.25%), the Pony car that spawned dozens of imitators after it was launched in 1964.



Today's Mustang still bears a strong resemblance to the original, part of a years-long attempt by Ford to ride a retro trend that saw baby boomers buying Volkswagen (VLKAY +1.53%) Beetles and Chevrolet (GM +2.65%) Camaros. But all that is about to change, says Mike Ramsey at the Wall Street Journal. Ford is planning a sleeker, "European" look for its new Mustang, in a bid to attract younger consumers who have less affection for muscle cars of yore. The new Mustang will reportedly launch in 2014, and will likely look like a Ford Fusion or the Evos model that was unveiled by Ford in late 2011.


Will the Mustang's new look backfire?

Ford might destroy an iconic brand: "This is a scary moment for Ford, and it really needs to tread carefully," says Justin Cupler at TopSpeed. The last time Ford tried to remake the Mustang -- the zippy Mustang II in the 1970s -- it "nearly killed off the Mustang name altogether." The Mustang is a "muscle car," and Ford would be wise not to stray too far with its makeover.

But the Mustang's style is getting old: The automotive world's retro trend may have "finally run its course," says Paul A. Eisenstein at MSNBC. Ford is facing "increasingly stringent fuel economy standards" in the U.S., and intense competition outside North America, necessitating not only a new look, but a new paradigm. "There are even rumors of a Mustang hybrid." Ford does risk "a tidal wave of opposition from traditionalists," but a younger generation might "be more accepting" of a toned-down Mustang.


And Ford has to move beyond baby boomers: The average Mustang buyer is 51 years old, and is considered a "near-luxury" consumer in "terms of spending habits," says Mike Ramsey at the Wall Street Journal. While baby boomers are "still an important demographic," fueling sales in minivans and SUVs, "that generation is near the end of its run as hard-charging car consumers." Ford and others face the difficult challenge of tapping into Generation Y -- those born in the 80s and 90s -- many of whom are less excited about owning cars than their parents.

[phillysrt4]

The mustang II?? You dont need to go that far back. Remember the abortion known as the Ford Probe? That was supposed to replace the mustang and look how that turned out.

If they want to change direction from retro, thats fine, but there are certain lines that can be kept in the car while still meeting increasing emission standards. The 3.7l v6 tuned to Canadian standards gets 39mpg highway.

It can be done and keep purists happy.

Younger people will buy mustangs IF they are priced right, and that is where the v6 comes in. The other thing is the lack of quality in the 80's and 90's (not from Ford per se, just the general domestic market) was so detrimental there are kids TODAY who look down on domestics because they are "garbage". Of course when you ask "why do you say that?" they just "um" and "uh" because they're parroting what their friends say, but that's an entirely different story.

I think the domestic market (and Ford in particular) has really turned a corner with respect to quality, styling, power, and responding to what the market wants. I agree they need to tread lightly to keep the purists happy, but IMO there is a middle ground between "keep referencing 1965" and "design something totally new"

[RSbeast]

I really liked the gen 2 probes. I wish they wouldve kept them or made them rwd.

Slickest car ford had produced in a long time. 1993 mustang vs 1993 ford probe = box vs corvette design wise.


...prolly why I'm going to be selling this retro box I have now lol

[Stangman701]

The 3.7l v6 tuned to Canadian standards gets 39mpg highway.

Wow, any idea what they change to get that kind of mileage? Do they still have 300HP?

[phillysrt4]

no idea what they changed, but its 305 not 300 :)

If you go to ford.ca the specs are there at the mustang side, or you can go to the "locate a dealer" and just pick any canadian town (e.g. Toronto, ON) and look at window stickers online. They all say 39 highway

[juice_man_86]

don't canadian cars read kilometers??

[phillysrt4]

don't canadian cars read kilometers??

they do. Its usually listed as how many liters per 100km. i was converting for you :)

But if you want to know, that 39mpg is 7.3l per 100km. says so right on the sticker.

Canada is metric, but some things are still... uh... "bilingual". Construction materials and some agricultural products will have both imperial and metric units (e.g. a store lists a sale for ground beef as 4.39/kg - 1.99/lb). The metric system wasn't officially adopted until 1984 IIRC (actually I think thats correct because the 1984 fieros up here have imperial speedos but the 1985's have metric as the primary gauge) so now we're getting the first generation as adults who use metric. Many older people still convert temperature to F even though they've been feeling how hot 30 is or how cold -10 is for years now.

[shockstang]

ummm...Imperial gallon.

[phillysrt4]

ummm...Imperial gallon.

hmmm might be right right. 39 miles to an imperial gallon is 32.5 miles to a US gallon. Isn't the car listed as 29 there?

doing the conversion back from liters per 100km to miles per us gallon comes to 32.2 (rounding errors I suppose).

Since the sticker was bilingual and with the american influence up here, I assumed it was a US gallon. learned something new! :)

[Stangman701]

no idea what they changed, but its 305 not 300 :)

If you go to ford.ca the specs are there at the mustang side, or you can go to the "locate a dealer" and just pick any canadian town (e.g. Toronto, ON) and look at window stickers online. They all say 39 highway

Haha, sorry to short ya 5 hp .

Yeah, I did go to the Canadian Ford website and saw the 7.3L/100kM after you said that it's different up there. That works out to about 32.2 MPG though. Still better than the 31 we get quoted here, but not 39.

Either way, it's very impressive. Even at 31 MPG I'd imagine it has the best MPG for any RWD vehicle over 300 HP.

[phillysrt4]

Haha, sorry to short ya 5 hp .

its a v6, i need every hp i can get ;)