"Mustang Mach E" Confirmed, Reservations Begin Immediately After Nov 17 Live-Streamed Reveal

[Cobra Jet]

I suspect that this was a closely held secret in the upper echelons until late in the game. During the Mach 1 debacle John Clor of Ford Performance wrote strongly against misapplication of Mustang brands in the Mustang Times. It doesn't read like something someone would write if they knew this was coming.

I also read that Hackett sent the designers back to the drawing board to make the design more Mustang-like. It causes me to wonder if they too were told only "Mustang inspired" and not Mustang branded.

If you all want something really interesting to read - here’s why and how the ME came about .... (no BS). This was Hackett’s forced agenda.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/b...rd-gave-mach-e-its-mustang-muscle/4216789002/

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[BuckeyeBOSS]

Exactly ... and for $70k+, there’s many better options across all Brand platforms - even IF the $7.5k tax credit was applied to it...


Hell, just for discussion sake about prices - I was looking up the new 2020 Explorers, there’s not 1 Explorer that I saw that was below $50k.... and even if you upped the ante and put together an Exp ST package, WOW - the price really jumps.



For crying out loud, Ford used to be affordable...

Most new cars are unaffordable for most Americans. The cost to develop and build cars and therefore the prices just keep skyrocketing b/c auto companies need to stay on the cutting edge of more and more tech to appease worldwide government regs. That costs a lot money, time, engineering, etc from start to finish in the planning and production process.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Most new cars are unaffordable for most Americans. The cost to develop and build cars and therefore the prices just keep skyrocketing b/c auto companies need to stay on the cutting edge of more and more tech to appease worldwide government regs. That costs a lot money, time, engineering, etc from start to finish in the planning and production process.

Oh yea, agree - but when is enough enough already - I mean to the average person who wants a new car from a certain brand - it’s like having a 2nd mortgage, not including any Ins. Premium, or other costs.

 

[Hack]

Most new cars are unaffordable for most Americans. The cost to develop and build cars and therefore the prices just keep skyrocketing b/c auto companies need to stay on the cutting edge of more and more tech to appease worldwide government regs. That costs a lot money, time, engineering, etc from start to finish in the planning and production process.

True, but people don't seem to want the cheap cars. They would rather be deep in debt and have something cooler. I bought a base Fiesta in 2011 and a Fiesta ST recently. Both were really easy to find in dealer inventory. Heck, I just bought a 2018 Fiesta ST and it was practically new. It hadn't been purchased by a customer, just traded from dealer to dealer.

There was a 2019 GT350 grabber lime car near here - it sold really quickly even though the new owner won't be able to drive it for the next 4-6 months due to cold temperatures.

 

[Bikeman315]

Carbon Wheels...wish list

Nice.

If you all want something really interesting to read - here’s why and how the ME came about .... (no BS). This was Hackett’s forced agenda.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/b...rd-gave-mach-e-its-mustang-muscle/4216789002/

Thanks CJ for posting this. It certainly doesn't make me feel any better about how this went down. I was mistaken however. I thought this was on Bill Ford. Wrong, it was Hackett all along.
"I said to Jim that it's not good enough," the CEO said. "He already knew that. But then he came back and he goes, 'What if,' long pause, 'it's a Mustang?'"

What gets me is Bill Ford's comment.
"I've always been very protective of the Mustang," Bill Ford told The News. "I was very skeptical. But people will be really surprised. They'll love this car. It accomplishes so much for one vehicle. This product will end up speaking for itself."

That really hurts. They could have picked a new unique name and let the product succeed/fail on its own merits. They took the easy way out. I'm just hoping with all the backlash on social media and the press they at least reconsider. There is time and precedent to do this.

 

[ohtobbad]

Ford can put the latest Mustang up against these next spring

 

[DRB]

Note that as the Detroit News article tells the story it's Jim Farley - not Hackett - who proposes the Mustang branding:

"I see the thing, and it was like a Prius," said Farley, a former Toyota Motor Corp. executive recalling his first impressions in 2017 of the Ford EV's design. The original design prioritized aerodynamics over design: "It's our first BEV! Why did we delegate it to the wind? We're going to delegate our whole future to the wind?"

Hackett agreed.

"I said to Jim that it's not good enough," the CEO said. "He already knew that. But then he came back and he goes, 'What if,' long pause, 'it's a Mustang?'"

"Jim" in that narrative would have to be Farley, as "the CEO" speaking would have to be Hackett.

From what I'm reading in the Detroit News article and elsewhere, the Mustang branding was neither preordained - there were folks who really argued for it and those who were unsure - nor done frivolously. This is more a matter of Ford pushing all its chips into the center of the table - not as drastic as mortgaging the Blue Oval, but nearly as consequential to their future.

Volkswagen, Porsche, Ford - Musk can only keep congratulating his competitors for so long without showing some sweat.

 

[Bikeman315]

True, but people don't seem to want the cheap cars. They would rather be deep in debt and have something cooler. I bought a base Fiesta in 2011 and a Fiesta ST recently. Both were really easy to find in dealer inventory. Heck, I just bought a 2018 Fiesta ST and it was practically new. It hadn't been purchased by a customer, just traded from dealer to dealer.

There was a 2019 GT350 grabber lime car near here - it sold really quickly even though the new owner won't be able to drive it for the next 4-6 months due to cold temperatures.

It does seem people gravitate to more expensive cars. People like nice things. Nice things cost more. To each his/her own. As far as debt, not everyone leases or buys on credit. Not everyone who finances go in deep debt although many do. Hopefully most will incur only the debt they can afford. In my case Ford gave me free money for 6 years. I took it. i'm leaving my money in the bank growing. If i decide I want to pay it off, I will.

 

[lacanteen]

Technically, I don't think that the Mach EW is an S550 and therefore shouldn't be on this subforum. My .02

 

[Bikeman315]

Technically, I don't think that the Mach EW is an S550 and therefore shouldn't be on this subforum. My .02

Agreed, it looks like most of the other threads were rolled into this one. I can handle one but it should be moved.

 

[ohtobbad]

Note that as the Detroit News article tells the story it's Jim Farley - not Hackett - who proposes the Mustang branding:


"Jim" in that narrative would have to be Farley, as "the CEO" speaking would have to be Hackett.

From what I'm reading in the Detroit News article and elsewhere, the Mustang branding was neither preordained - there were folks who really argued for it and those who were unsure - nor done frivolously. This is more a matter of Ford pushing all its chips into the center of the table - not as drastic as mortgaging the Blue Oval, but nearly as consequential to their future.

Volkswagen, Porsche, Ford - Musk can only keep congratulating his competitors for so long without showing some sweat.

watch the Ford versus Ferrari storey and its not the first time Bill Ford 2 was snookered or pushed into something.
It will likely be a year or 2 before we see the true feelings about this EV. but you can bet, now that its been named a Mustang,
anything can and will be branded with Mustang name. Bets on how long before we see the first F-150 Mustang edition,
slippery slope I say.

 

[ohtobbad]

Technically, I don't think that the Mach EW is an S550 and therefore shouldn't be on this subforum. My .02

How about the new Ford Mustang machE and now the aztec editions LOL

 

[shogun32]

The cost to develop and build cars and therefore the prices just keep skyrocketing

actually that's not that big of a factor. The prices are skyrocketing because the money to the consumer is "cheap". Consumers are buying payments, not final prices. Just listen to your local sales guy. He's pushing payments as the metric of affordability.

the average (?) consumer (@martinjlm I'm sure has the data) can afford only ~500/mo payment. When the loans are written for 60, 72, even 84 months and banks are very willing to roll negative equity onto the new loan (previously unheard of) there is no longer any downward price pressure. If 36mo terms at 500/mo the car has to cost less than 20K. But that can now balloon out to 36k and more. Go back 15 years and new car prices were solidly affordable. Go back further and people were paying for cars out of cash savings.

Once the easy finance took off manufacturers kept hiking the price to match the longer/looser standards.

 

[shogun32]

Musk can only keep congratulating his competitors for so long without showing some sweat.

he has is trusty bong at his side and seemingly endless Wall St money and generous gov't indulgences to sell. IF Ford can actually produce a vehicle with *good* quality, Tesla is toast even if the Ford doesn't have the 0-60 or max range.

 

[nrc]

Reading back through recent comments from Ford leadership and also supposed insiders I can see now what has happened. They've bought into the notion that people aren't going to drive anymore and possibly not even own their own cars. So it's vastly more important to them to stake their claim on a spot in this transportation appliance market than it is to worry over the antiquated concept of a "driver's car".

You only have to look at the interior to see that this is no enthusiast's car. Not even an enthusiastic soccer mom's car. These people are selling a consumer gadget and they want "Mustang" to be their "i" in iPhone. To them, "Mustang" is now just a marketing adjective that is supposed to evoke excitement even though the consumer has no idea why. Just read their marketing pap. It's more like something out of a millennial romance novel than sports car brochure.

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