Ford Mustang has opportunity as competitors abandon V8 engines

Detroit- Ford The opportunity to see Mustang sales grow as it became the last American muscle car to feature a traditional V8 engine appealed to generations of gearheads drawn to high-performance vehicles.

The optimism comes after the Mustang’s closest U.S. rival ended production of the muscle car last December. General Motors Ending production of the Chevrolet Camaro, and star Production of the Dodge Challenger V8 will begin with a new all-electric muscle car later this year, followed by a gasoline-powered model with a twin-turbocharged inline-six engine expected in 2025.

Their exit (along with others in the muscle car market) is the result of a shift in consumer demand away from two-door cars, tightening fuel economy standards, and the emergence of all-electric vehicles with unparalleled acceleration capabilities.

Jeff Marentic, Ford’s general manager of blue products, which includes the Mustang, said the pony car remains good business for the automaker domestically and internationally. On April 17, the Mustang celebrated its 60th anniversary.

“We’re excited to continue offering the Mustang. It’s sad to see the competition leave, but it’s good for us,” Marentic told CNBC. “For those who are looking for a true American sports car, it’s available. …..We’re looking at and discussing the future of the Broncos and how far we can take it.”

Marentic declined to discuss specific sales expectations for the car, but noted that the company added a new V8 model to the seventh-generation car, called the “Dark Horse” — a thinly veiled reference to Ford’s ambitions for V8-powered cars.

The 2024 Dark Horse and Mustang GT are both powered by a 5.0-liter V8 engine, with the new model producing up to 500 horsepower and 418 foot-pounds of torque. Ford also announced the 2025 Mustang GTD, equipped with a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine expected to be available as early as later this year with more than 800 horsepower.

Ford has been able to continue selling Mustang V8 models in part because it invested in making the vehicles more efficient and adopted the smaller turbocharged four-cylinder engine early on, which now accounts for about 48% of U.S. Mustang sales

Ford also offers an all-electric Mustang Mach-E crossover, which has similar design cues and badging to the two-door coupe, but has little else besides its name.

“I can understand the green movement, but we’re very proud of our V8 engines,” Marentic said, adding that the model accounts for the majority of Mustang sales in Europe. “It helped define Ford’s image outside of the United States.”

Ford’s seventh-generation Mustang, launched in September, recently began shipping outside of North America. Ford said the car will eventually be sold in 85 markets on every continent except Antarctica.

Sales outside the United States have helped keep production of the Mustang, which is built exclusively at a plant in metropolitan Detroit, amid declining domestic demand for the two-door sports car.

U.S. sales of the Mustang have fallen from a recent peak of more than 122,000 in 2015 to less than 49,000 last year.

Ford reports that internationally, more than 235,000 Mustangs have been registered since 2015. Since then, the automaker has started producing right-hand drive models for countries including the UK, Australia and Japan.

Ford said the main markets for the Mustang outside the United States are Canada, Australia and Europe.

“People have very strong feelings about wild horses,” Marentic said. “The pull is amazing.”

Marentic declines to discuss Ford Mustang’s future product plans, including a hybrid Seventh Generation Reportedly Canceled Potential for a fully electric version of the car or coupe.