Ok now I'm pissed.

[slowhand99]

Having only recently taken over the position of Chairman and Managing Director of Ford of Britain I have only just been alerted to this forum.

Please feel free to contact me directly on [email protected] individually, and I will ensure that we provide each of you with the very latest data on your order.

I am hugely appreciative of your patience


Andy Barratt

Welcome to forum, Andy and hats off.
Good to see you drive a Mondeo; so do I and it's brilliant. Question is, are you getting a Mustang too?

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[Aussie Mate]

Andy
Congratulations on having the business acumen and the interest to get involved.
I suggest that you recommend to your Oz and NZ counterparts that they do the same just in case they are operating under an illusion that their marketing depts. and dealer networks are doing a great job
The only person in the whole of Ford who has tried to avoid this complete marketing fiasco outside the US home market is Deysha in Customer Service and one day when a Mustang Hall of Fame is created, she deserves to be there alongside Lee Iaccoca and Dave Pericak
Best of luck

Andy, like many of the other members of the forum here - I commend you on at least joining the forum to get an better understand of the passion and the frustration being expressed here.

This is not just a UK thing - it is a global thing. we were promised a global car back in 2014 - and we are still waiting.
The lack of communication from Ford (UK, Aust, NZ, etc) to those who have place deposit is disappointing.

Please let your counterparts in those regional ares know what you have done (ie joining the forum) so hopefully they can do the same (or a representative in their place).

We would like to see:
(1) better communication and understand the reason for the changes between the USA car and the RHD versions.
(2) understand why it takes so long to get the car built and shipped out to our countries. (keep us informed of the progress)

 

[Centurion07]

Thirdly, the main thing I would like to know is what it is we won’t be getting compared with the US specification car. Ford UK recently wrote to us telling us we were losing a little horse power because of an exhaust issue caused by the right hand drive which was encouraging that we were being told about such a small detail. However, there are rumours of other deletions such as
a) hood vents
b) tower strut brace; and
c) “gill” daytime running lights


all of which are a little hard to understand if they are true. Hood vents are common place amongst other sports cars sold in the UK and I cannot find anything to suggest that a tower strut brace is illegal. Deletion of these features, particularly the last two will detract from the performance and appearance of the car and seems therefore to run contrary to the Ford vision of a global vehicle. In addition, if we as consumers try to restore these features, its going to involve a considerable amount of expense in terms of buying parts, shipping, fitting and then of course insurance for the modification that will have to be declared.

These are not rumours.

Check out post #625, two-thirds of the way down on this page: http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8004&page=35 It's a French 5.0 with no vents or tribar DRLs.

The reasoning has been explained as Ford have made a EUROPEAN car that conforms to the lowest common denominator for all countries i.e. if ONE country says bonnet vents are illegal then no euro-car gets them. Same for the DRLs. Just because these things are legal in Britain, it doesn't mean we get them as Ford has built a EUROPEAN Mustang.

If you wanted Ford to go through type approval in every country for every little thing, you can be damn sure it would be costing a lot more than £34K.

Don't ask me why we're missing the gauges from the dash though. Maybe Mr Barratt can shed some light on that?

 

[NewMustangDE]

The way it has been understood regarding these questions are:

a) hood vents - something to do with the active bonnet that the US does not have making them forbidden on a EU officially sold Mustang. Perhaps those other exotic supercars that do have them do not have active bonnets? Imported Mustangs gets an "exception".

b) tower strut brace - only ever fitted to US cars with 20" wheel option. Something the EU does not get. Most likely due to the CO2 emissions being affected by bigger wheels and/or weight. The Strut brace (I have it) is very heavy as it should be.

Either way, it's not forbidden to fit a strut brace and its very easy to buy one and fit it. My own dealer fitted mine (his suggestion even).

c) “gill” daytime running lights - no idea....I have read something about them not being strong enough....sounds like BS to me

 

[McDoodle]

The way it has been understood regarding these questions are:

a) hood vents - something to do with the active bonnet that the US does not have making them forbidden on a EU officially sold Mustang. Perhaps those other exotic supercars that do have them do not have active bonnets? Imported Mustangs gets an "exception".

b) tower strut brace - only ever fitted to US cars with 20" wheel option. Something the EU does not get. Most likely due to the CO2 emissions being affected by bigger wheels and/or weight. The Strut brace (I have it) is very heavy as it should be.

Either way, it's not forbidden to fit a strut brace and its very easy to buy one and fit it. My own dealer fitted mine (his suggestion even).

c) “gill” daytime running lights - no idea....I have read something about them not being strong enough....sounds like BS to me

You may well be right, but ......

.... the F-Type has an active bonnet .....

I'm pretty sure strut braces can be made of light weight material and I thought that the strut brace was fitted as part of the performance pack in the US? A recent magazine article in the UK (Evo) was testing a Euro spec V8 (German registered) and the photos showed a strut brace fitted.

Like you I've heard lots of different stories about the tri-bar DRL's ..... the two most plausible explanations I've heard have been a) they are not one, continuous light b) they are visible from the side of the car. Both clearly horrifically dangerous pieces of design that would cause literally thousands of accidents every day

 

[croyde]

I think the omissions are nothing more then Ford being cheapskates and totally knowing that we are highly unlikely to cancel our orders.

The original brochure gave the impression that anyone ordering a GT would get PP and a Premium interior.

Deposits paid then bit by bit we find omissions to the UK version.

Bonnet Vents cost a bit, just shove on the ecoboost ones.

Those centre dials might work out pricey, just stick the base aluminium looking strip with just the air vents.

There are all sorts of annoying DRLs out there now, all in different places on the front of the cars, whatever is wrong with the Mustang gills? an essential part of the design.

No strut brace wtf it's a performance car ffs. More penny pinching.

Oh! and it was 7 degrees here in London this morning and it's only September. Why Summer tyres for countries that rarely get a summer.

Would be nice to know the real reasons for these changes but I suppose us Brits just will be so happy to finally get the Mustang over here despite it being watered down.

 

[CJ01]

These are not rumours.

Until Ford confirms the facts or we see a UK RHD car, I think they are rumours. Accept entirely that the deletions are confirmed so far as Euro spec cars are concerned but there are differences between the Euro spec and the UK cars. Not least the steering wheel being on the other side of the vehicle !

Or maybe I'm just a glass half full kind of guy...

 

[Lone Survivor]

If we were definitely to get all the stuff that we think are omitted, I'm sure it would be worth the wait.

Mr Barratt, I'm sure you are in the position to get some minions to strike up a specific UK spec list and have it compared to a U.S. Spec list, or euro one for that matter and let us know exactly what we are getting.

If that's beyond the Chairman and Managing Director of Ford UK, the I would be flabbergasted!

Don't do it just for us, do it for your dealership network. Then you won't potentially have a PR disaster.

I'm on a number of car forums, mostly Japanese performance cars, there is, I can assure you MASSIVE interest in this car.

 

[Timm]

You do Realize, if he does ask for a specific UK spec list and receive it. At this stage of the game, Every car produced and or not will have to go to retooling and suffering even more delays?
As for the K brace it is available for 265 from Ford performance parts, perhaps you should be asking why it isnt a dealer installed option since it is (legal?) in your country. The same can be said of the headlights with the Gills and the hood vents. Why Ford decided on the various changes, perhaps like others said it was to make a European Mustang conforming to all country codes. As for every GT being a PP with premium interior? Seriously have you never been to a car dealer or do they not have base models in the U.K.? Here lots of cars are available in both top of the line outfitted motors with all the bells and whistles and base models. Lastly why didnt they sell the car with 2 sets of tires? I ask again have you ever been to a dealer and bought a new car? I am sure you local Ford automotive will sell you 4 more tires fit for winter driving, of course if you want wheels TPMS monitors and knockoff lugnuts as well I am certain he can do all of that for a nice sum.

 

[Paulo1984]

Having only recently taken over the position of Chairman and Managing Director of Ford of Britain I have only just been alerted to this forum.

Please feel free to contact me directly on [email protected] individually, and I will ensure that we provide each of you with the very latest data on your order.

I am hugely appreciative of your patience


Andy Barratt

Gents,
Given that Andy has now taken a personal interest in our plight, is ti truly worth e-mailing him all individually? considering we all want to know the same thing?

Where are our cars and when will they be shipped?

I'll go with the majority on this one, but he's e-mail server is going to take a hammering!

As far as the UCL winners go, i feel that ship has sailed. We're accepting of the fact that the concept was nice and promising but Ford Europe / UK have failed in making the Mustang's arrival, as special as we'd all had hoped for.

I hope FORD learn from this, improve all communications and customer relations. So when the RS and Vignale are released, those customers get an experience early adopters deserve.

I know we've not bought a Ferrari, so i was never expecting a red carpet affair. However like myself and you guys also, we threw our hats in (and cash!) early, to make sure that FORD knew bringing the Mustang to UK shore was the right thing to do and make it as big success as possible (so they'll of course release the 350R over here, next year ).

well, that is my 10 pence anyway.

Paulo

P.S Andy, if you are reading this my VIN is 1FA6P8CF1G5203664. Air freight delivery is fine with me

 

[Lone Survivor]

You do Realize, if he does ask for a specific UK spec list and receive it. At this stage of the game, Every car produced and or not will have to go to retooling and suffering even more delays?
As for the K brace it is available for 265 from Ford performance parts, perhaps you should be asking why it isnt a dealer installed option since it is (legal?) in your country. The same can be said of the headlights with the Gills and the hood vents. Why Ford decided on the various changes, perhaps like others said it was to make a European Mustang conforming to all country codes. As for every GT being a PP with premium interior? Seriously have you never been to a car dealer or do they not have base models in the U.K.? Here lots of cars are available in both top of the line outfitted motors with all the bells and whistles and base models. Lastly why didnt they sell the car with 2 sets of tires? I ask again have you ever been to a dealer and bought a new car? I am sure you local Ford automotive will sell you 4 more tires fit for winter driving, of course if you want wheels TPMS monitors and knockoff lugnuts as well I am certain he can do all of that for a nice sum.

Naw mate, new car buying is a new thing in the UK :frusty: Although grammar isn't.

 

[Timm]

I figured others had bought new cars, I was asking you specifically if the process was new.
Because you seem to believe they should give you everything the other guy has.

 

[Lone Survivor]

I figured others had bought new cars, I was asking you specifically if the process was new.
Because you seem to believe they should give you everything the other guy has.

No. Just what's in their original UK brochure.

 

[Timm]

From what I have read in the majority of other posts, the biggest gripe isnt the deletion of certain features because an American car was setup for a European market, but the delays of it getting there. If the Gills, K brace, hood vents, gauges, and any other deleted option
are deemed needed by the general U.K. buyer, I would speak with the dealer or dealers and ask that they make those parts available to the purchasers to swap. If you ask the factory to customize the U.K. only cars to your specs or that of the brochure it will only delay what already seems to be a 6 month to a year process in Building and shipping cars to your country. Understand what is acceptable for the U.S. isn't for Europe and vice versa. If someone in the U.S. choose to purchase a car usually only available there, the process is overly long and expensive. Perhaps they attempted to avoid those issues, perhaps there were changes that needed to be made for Australia, Austria, New Zealand etc. Do you really want a U.K. only production line and to scrap any progress on your mates cars to present?

 

[Lone Survivor]

Timm, with all due respect, you're missing the point and you don't really understand our market. Yes, it's about delivery, but there are numerous other threads bemoaning the fact that there are the specific deletions from THE WHOLE RIGHT HAND DRIVE MARKET, at least that's the perception.

It's not as easy just to pop into the dealers and order these specific parts here in the UK, for a Mustang. For instance, the rear lights, why white for Europe?? I've never seen a European car, ever with white rear lights.

The Mustang is an American icon, no? So when you market an American icon, I expect to get an iconic American car.

You'll need to research our Australian and New Zealand cousins many threads, as well as the many on the UK side. It's about INFORMATION, or precisely, the lack off that's the gripe! Most would be happy with a date that was an informed piece of information, not having to do our own research to fill in the gaps that Ford have left.

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