FPC days over?

[machsmith]

If everyone goes on ford.com and buys the 8 year max warrantee plan they may just cut production tomorrow.

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[mike.s]

What do you guys think the minimum units sold would be for engine development?

I think the VooDoo/350 will run till the end of the S550 platform because Ford needs to recoup the R&D costs of designing the motor/suspension/etc.

I know most people who bought this car want it to be collectible/rare/increase value, but rationalizing it won't make it so.

the suspension made its way into the 18 gt did it not? they will easily recoup the R&D for it there. not to mention what other tech will go into future cars from the 350

 

[krt22]

What do you guys think the minimum units sold would be for engine development?

I think the VooDoo/350 will run till the end of the S550 platform because Ford needs to recoup the R&D costs of designing the motor/suspension/etc.

I know most people who bought this car want it to be collectible/rare/increase value, but rationalizing it won't make it so.

It depends on the gross margin, but 15,000 should do it IMO. Even if they just break even, its not like they can't carry on the features/lessons learned to the next generation of cars.

 

[nastang87xx]

It depends on the gross margin, but 15,000 should do it IMO. Even if they just break even, its not like they can't carry on the features/lessons learned to the next generation of cars.

Over a casual beer, Ford will tell you the 350 was an exercise in low production too.

 

[TheDeadCow]

the suspension made its way into the 18 gt did it not? they will easily recoup the R&D for it there. not to mention what other tech will go into future cars from the 350

The GT350 has front suspension knuckles that are specific to the model. To my knowledge they haven't added that to the '18 GT or plan to. Not to mention all the other GT350 specific parts. I don't believe Ford will just design all this for 5-10K units.

It depends on the gross margin, but 15,000 should do it IMO. Even if they just break even, its not like they can't carry on the features/lessons learned to the next generation of cars.

It's hard to tell how many units must be sold to pay for R&D without knowing the all economics involved.

 

[TheDeadCow]

Over a casual beer, Ford will tell you the 350 was an exercise in low production too.

I agree. As evidenced by the Raptor, GT, and RS Focus.

 

[thePill]

The Flat Plane Crank V8 in the GT350 will continue until 2020. After the GT500 is unveiled, Ford will introduce the 2019 GT350 w/ Port Direct Injection and improved exhaust flow. It will produce 550hp and experience a 3% increase in MSRP.

The GT350 will likely continue throughout the S650 because the 650 is still essentially the 2015 w/ vast improvements.

 

[Mspeedster]

Like the Ford GT, but to a lesser degree, I believe the reason Ford created the GT350 was to make a statement. The FPC Voodoo is big part of that statement and I applaud Ford for building such a beast. Whether the investments made are fully recouped, we may never know, but it's probably beside the point.

Ford wanted the GT350 to be something special and engineered it in a way not previously seen before on a Mustang or Shelby. No doubt they succeeded. The fact that this car has attracted many buyers from the Porsche & BMW M crowds speaks volumes.

The jury is still out on the long term reliability of the Voodoo, only time will really tell. But if it stays reliable enough, I think this GT350 will be remembered as one of the all time greats.

 

[krt22]

The GT350 has front suspension knuckles that are specific to the model. To my knowledge they haven't added that to the '18 GT or plan to. Not to mention all the other GT350 specific parts. I don't believe Ford will just design all this for 5-10K units.



It's hard to tell how many units must be sold to pay for R&D without knowing the all economics involved.

I would venture that the GT350 margins are actually quite high, Ford does not release GM per unit numbers, but lets look at the F150 which many estimate to bring in 10k of profit per unit, which I would say is conservative for the GT350 considering its a 60k car that shares a large portion of it's bill of materials with a 25k base mustang. So at 10k/unit, Ford would bring in 150M from 15,000 units sold.

150M is quite a bit for development given a lot of the 'bespoke' parts are not actually designed in house but built to spec by suppliers. The brakes/seats/suspension/tranny are for the most part are commercial parts and the body work changes are pretty benign. And while those components are pretty pricey in the aftermarket, to an OEM like Ford the cost deltas over the standard components are likley not that high. So that leaves the engine which is very unique, but it too is still for the most part a modular ford motor and the block and heads can easily be carried forward to further amortize the RnD costs. I would say there was plenty of budget there to justify the limited run, if anything it was justifiable at 2 model years/10k units and the 3rd year is for the most part just extra on top.

 

[TheDeadCow]

I think comparing the economics of the 350 vs the F150 isn't fair mainly because there's a TON of options on the F150 to pad the margin on the overall sale of the vehicle. Applying the margins of the F150 to the GT350 IMO isn't accurate. Once again, it's speculation about economics that we know none of the details. I do like the way you think tho.

 

[krt22]

You could look at the GT350 as a highly optioned mustang, not that much different than the F150 model

Base mustang-25k
Base F150-27-33k

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