martinjlm
Retired from GM
What I think is actually going on here is very similar to Ford announcing that Mustang would continue on S550 for a couple more years rather than going to an S650. And word in the industry is that there will likely never be an “S650”. But rather Ford is re-scheming how to continue Mustang in a CAFE world. GM is continuing Camaro on Alpha for a couple years rather than move it to Alpha2 while they figure out what it should / will / will not be beyond 2023. Similar paths. The difference is, Ford took control of its message and said “here’s what we’re doing”. GM continues to play the “not at liberty to discuss future products” card.
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I could have worded that better. When I say Ford has controlled their message, I’m really only referring to the decision to extend S550. The idea of whether S650 ever arrives is “industry shop talk” amongst forecasters. Seriously deep nerd-speak. By being up front about next ‘Stang coming off S550 with a new tophat (more nerd-speak), Ford has avoided the reverberations of someone in the supply community going “my S650 parts supply contract just got delayed / cancelled” turning into an MC&T “sky is falling” discussion.Have they though? Ford haven't announced anything Mustang-specific. The on/off rumors of whether S650 is coming or not, are just that. Even Automobile mag just quote "an insider". The "Mach-E" is slightly different....they've certainly shown part of their hand there, but I don't class that as a Mustang (I'm still hoping for them NOT to put a pony on it). The only thing Ford have officially announced for Mustang is the hybrid......which they initially said was coming for 2020 (no indication whether that was model or calendar year).
As for CAFE....thanks for that, I was not aware that was how its calculated. I guess, if the rumor of Mustang getting bigger is true, that would help offset CAFE to a small degree. I hope it stays at its current size though......it's a pretty big car as it is, especially as the rear seats are just about usable for small adults/teenagers.
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