Ford Trademarks "Mustang Mach-E" Name (and new Pony Badge)

[Ericc B]

Heard again from the dealer who was at the behind the curtains viewing of the electric SUV and he confirmed it actually had the pony badge at the front and even pony logos on the center caps :/

Sponsored

 

[9secondko]

.

Burn 50 000 or whatever Mustang diehards, recruit/replace 500 000 more SUV buyers maybe

Breaks my heart, don’t like it but marketing and the accountants would love it

Except they’d sell anyway.

Instead they risk selling LESS because the mustang fan has something against it. So it won’t be the second vehicle.

Who wouldn’t want a ford version of the Porsche Cayman or Lamborghini urus. I sure would!

But brand it like a Mustang and ... no thanks.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Seems certain people at Ford need to watch the documentary "A Faster Horse".........when the S550 was being developed it seemed Ford knew exactly what made a Mustang a Mustang..........and 5 years later that's all but forgotten

Heard again from the dealer who was at the behind the curtains viewing of the electric SUV and he confirmed it actually had the pony badge at the front and even pony logos on the center caps :/

 

[zackmd1]

Seems certain people at Ford need to watch the documentary "A Faster Horse".........when the S550 was being developed it seemed Ford knew exactly what made a Mustang a Mustang..........and 5 years later that's all but forgotten

It's called new leadership... For some odd reason, Ford thinks they can turn the mustang name into a brand with multiple vehicle styles. What they are forgetting is that what makes the mustang name special is that it is attached to a SPORTS CAR, not a damn SUV. Make an all electric mustang the size of the challanger and call that the Mustang Mach E. Your damn SUV needs a different name of which there are plenty to choose from...

 

[Bullitt]

Heard again from the dealer who was at the behind the curtains viewing of the electric SUV and he confirmed it actually had the pony badge at the front and even pony logos on the center caps :/

Wow, this really sucks. Can your dealer say what the general reaction was from the other dealers? I feel like many of them should have lost their minds right then and there with Ford.

The only hope is that it'll be a sales disaster that forces them to change direction with it. The funny thing is, if the branding was good (with a different name) I actually would have considered picking one up in a couple years to add as a family car.

 

[zackmd1]

Wow, this really sucks. Can your dealer say what the general reaction was from the other dealers? I feel like many of them should have lost their minds right then and there with Ford.

The only hope is that it'll be a sales disaster that forces them to change direction with it. The funny thing is, if the branding was good (with a different name) I actually would have considered picking one up in a couple years to add as a family car.

Unfortunately with the way the market is, I wouldn't be surprised if it is successful due to the looks and it being electric. I doubt beyond mustang fans like us that people would care about the name at first. Unfortunately that likely means the end of the Mustang as we know it...

 

[FreedomPenguin]

They could call it baby stallion and I’d still buy it. I think some of the comments saying fans will leave ford over name changes etc are exaggerated greatly.

The newer generation this is going to be a hit and I’m 28, so I am probably one of them and badging and naming schemes mean nothing to me.

Give me a nice car or suv or whatever it is and I’ll buy it, whatever ford does to it, history means nothing to me tbh nor traditions.

 

[Bullitt]

Unfortunately with the way the market is, I wouldn't be surprised if it is successful due to the looks and it being electric. I doubt beyond mustang fans like us that people would care about the name at first. Unfortunately that likely means the end of the Mustang as we know it...

I'm not sure it'll be a homerun yet. Unless you're Tesla, selling electric cars is still an uphill battle. Especially when you're trying to appeal to the performance crowd and not the environmentalists. Every other car company thinks they can poach Tesla fans but they ignore the fact that Tesla fans are extremely brand loyal, even when their cars are falling apart at the seams.

 

[martinjlm]

They are just applications. The “E” may be contested by Audi. Nothing is for sure.

Audi would have a very difficult time winning this. It will be considered common domain. Like GT. BMW has used “e” for a number of their hybrids (330e, 530e, X5 Xdrive e, 740e). Mercedes used to, though they don’t anymore. Porsche (another VW brand, btw) has already been using “e” for their plug-in hybrid Panamera and Cayenne with no complaints filed. So has FCA. Remember the Fiat 500e? Using “e” or “E” will be viewed as commonplace as using “GT” to denote a sporty variant.

 

[Fatguy]

Audi would have a very difficult time winning this. It will be considered common domain. Like GT. BMW has used “e” for a number of their hybrids (330e, 530e, X5 Xdrive e, 740e). Mercedes used to, though they don’t anymore. Porsche (another VW brand, btw) has already been using “e” for their plug-in hybrid Panamera and Cayenne with no complaints filed. So has FCA. Remember the Fiat 500e? Using “e” or “E” will be viewed as commonplace as using “GT” to denote a sporty variant.

It’s the process as the trademark office will flag that on first correspondence. Then you have to reply and the app goes to the bottom of the pile. Then you get another excuse in six months. This happened for seven years for me.


For Ford they can just do it and deal with any problems while all that goes on. The name or logo has to be married to certain terms that are changed constantly keeping trademark lawyers employed. I don’t even want to look at old correspondence as the experience was that miserable. That thing almost broke me mentally. I even phoned up the trademark office once out of desperation and the girl at the other end just told me “I know, I know” and nothing changed. I got it and renew in like 15 years but never again.


But those lawyers! If you don’t litigate when people encroach on your registered trademark you can lose it that way. My advice - Just put a TM beside your logo and don’t bother with the “R” inside a circle. It is not worth the hassle!

 

[Fatguy]

I should add though that there was one person that was happy when the logo had the registered trademark on it - and that was the graphic artist who penned it. She could show prospective clients that her work is good enough to survive the trademark process. She did a great job, but I’m not doing that ever again!


Oh, and if you try to trademark a design you penned yourself - I would consider that a foolish move. You don’t know what you are getting yourself into.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Except they’d sell anyway.

Instead they risk selling LESS because the mustang fan has something against it. So it won’t be the second vehicle.

Wouldn't be a second vehicle here no matter what they call it.

Who wouldn’t want a ford version of the Porsche Cayman or Lamborghini urus. I sure would!

You must really mean Porsche's Cayenne.

And since you asked, no, I wouldn't want either a Cayenne or a Urus. A Cayman, sure. For as long as it's under warranty, anyway.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

They could call it baby stallion and I’d still buy it. I think some of the comments saying fans will leave ford over name changes etc are exaggerated greatly.

The newer generation this is going to be a hit and I’m 28, so I am probably one of them and badging and naming schemes mean nothing to me.

Give me a nice car or suv or whatever it is and I’ll buy it, whatever ford does to it, history means nothing to me tbh nor traditions.

At 28 you're too young to fully understand what it means when the car mfrs stop building what you want and replace that with products you don't want. You may not even realize what it is that you really do want, as opposed to what you'll merely accept.

Diluting the Mustang name with any SUV DNA would be but a small step on the Mustangs way toward mediocrity as a 'fun car'.

The MBA-style thinking behind all of this is that we're all supposed to want the same things, all done up in mostly the same ways/packages. Any of us who don't fall in lockstep with that from the get-go are supposed to "come around to" that way of thinking anyway. That's how a car like the Mustang could have its character - a big part of what made it popular with and appealing to enthusiasts - bred right out of it. A Mustang-badged SUV would be just more moronic sameness for the sake of sameness.


Norm

 

[Fatguy]

Again I would like to go back to the idea that if you tie your identity to the car you drive this stuff becomes personal in a way it does not for others. It’s the same thing as when you attack someone’s car they take it personally. This is probably because they purchased the car to have that car’s image define themselves to the outside world. Same with the Corvette, short guys, old guys literally buy into that car’s image, same for the Mustang.


Especially if you bought a maxed out GT and have to make that big payout for the car every month, watering down the image must seem untenable. The Mustang image is more vulnerable than a Lamborghini or Porsche, so yes Ford is playing with fire when it comes to branding. But be honest in your arguments as image halo for the customer is a quantifiable cost and they lose that by watering down the brand...


As for trademarks, isn’t there a YouTuber that goes by “Ecobeast” and what did happen with that trademark application by Ford?

 

[Bullitt]

I don't think there's any personal ego reasons for anyone's complaints here, it's simply a matter of history and poor marketing. Ford got too creative with the Mustang name back when they developed the Probe, seems to be a very similar situation here. Back then Ford wanted to be trendy and modern, so they figured they'd give it futuristic styling and front wheel drive because those two things were hot back then. Then they realized the classic proportions and muscle car formula was part of what makes a Mustang a Mustang and those fans weren't going to go for a front wheel drive compact.

Same thing now, EV is the futuristic way in most buyers minds, crossovers are hot and trendy, but for some reason, Ford isn't confident enough in this crossover to branch out with a new name, so they think they can lean on Mustang branding and loyalists to help them out. It's funny how history repeats itself. Hopefully it keeps on repeating itself and they call this EV the Probe instead lol.

Sponsored