Interesting Hackett Interview

[Assimilator]

The original rumor specifically said they heard at the dealer event that Ford was releasing a 4-Door Mustang with a Super Charged V8 that looks like the Panamera.  In reality, they were just combining the Mach-E and GT500 announcements into one product, that's how the grapevine distorts things.  

As for 4-Door Mustang, the Mach-E is basically exactly that.  It's the future of 4-Door performance at Ford (more torque than a Mustang GT).  The notion that a Mustang can be stretched to 4-Doors is very outdated (and impossible), you would need to start with a larger 4-door platform that can be resized for a sports car (GM struggled to keep the weight and cost down in the process)...and that window closed when they cancelled the CD6 Mustang and Continental and began focusing on utilities and electrification platforms.  I don't think people realize just how fundamentally different vehicle development is moving forward.  Throw out every template from the past.  It doesn't make sense to invest into old ideas, especially when people stopped buying them.  

Edited December 16, 2018 by Assimilator

[jpd80]

6 hours ago, Assimilator said:

The original rumor specifically said they heard at the dealer event that Ford was releasing a 4-Door Mustang with a Super Charged V8 that looks like the Panamera.  In reality, they were just combining the Mach-E and GT500 announcements into one product, that's how the grapevine distorts things. 

Exactly, they put two and tow together and came up with five...

Quote

As for 4-Door Mustang, the Mach-E is basically exactly that.  It's the future of 4-Door performance at Ford (more torque than a Mustang GT).  The notion that a Mustang can be stretched to 4-Doors is very outdated (and impossible), you would need to start with a larger 4-door platform that can be resized for a sports car (GM struggled to keep the weight and cost down in the process)...and that window closed when they cancelled the CD6 Mustang and Continental and began focusing on utilities and electrification platforms.  I don't think people realize just how fundamentally different vehicle development is moving forward.  Throw out every template from the past.  It doesn't make sense to invest into old ideas, especially when people stopped buying them.  

Not meaning to beat up GM  but you gotta wonder at the billons they spent on Zeta, Sigma, Alpha, Omega cars, it's kinda like a cross between financial quick sand and a Greek tragedy.....in the end, it looks like everyone just went over to Chrysler Dodge anyway and they will happily ride those sales into the ground selling Hemi after Hemi.

Ford has no such impediments, so it's free to explore electrified performance crossovers and Utilities and let the other guys follow them, I think the next few years are going to be fun watching the transformation, it will be like the Ecoboost of electrification - guilt free performance.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by jpd80

[jpd80]

Just thinking about it, the fantastic acceleration possible in EVs is going to become  very addictive. That might consign a lot of ICEs to history.

[Assimilator]

Right now there are some technical and cost challenges to full BEV performance, but Ford's solution combines the best of both worlds to only extract the benefits (Hybrids).  I think there is some more tempered expectations on the Mach E, suggesting it may not be as performance oriented as originally envisioned by Farley.  The Mach-E was originally a more mundane vehicle called the C-EV, but Farley under Hackett pushed for a major rethink (fortunately).  I know Field's had zero confidence in full battery electrification which was a big reason he was fired and why Ford is quite a few years behind on their planning.  But Ford has long been developing this Hybrid strategy as an efficiency solution to improve upon EcoBoost.  

Edited December 17, 2018 by Assimilator