Nothing Special at Ford US?
Ford USA's Special Vehicle Team is reportedly finished...
The special projects outfit responsible for recent stand-out Fords such as the SVT Cobra Mustang is being dismantled. According to Edmunds.com, SVT's long-time executive staff have gone and operations could cease as early as April.
US sources have stated that while the 2007 Shelby Cobra Mustang will still wear SVT badges, it will be the last genuine SVT product.
The closure of SVT is believed to be part of Ford's ‘Way Forward' restructuring plan. The plan, announced in January, ended production at SVT's Wixom plant where the company's reborn legend car, Ford GT, was built. The restructure also killed off any hope of SVT building its planned high-performance SUV, the Sport Trac Adrenaline (pictured).
SVT was founded in 1991 by Robert Rewey, Ford's vice president for marketing and sales, and Neil Ressler, Ford's chief technical officer. The first two SVT products were launched in 1992; the 1993 F-150 Lightning pickup and 1993 Mustang Cobra. The SVT Contour was introduced in 1997, followed by the second-generation Lightning in 1999. The '02 SVT Focus was released late 2001. By 2004, when production of the Lightning, Mustang Cobra and SVT Focus ended, the company had sold approximately 145,000 SVT products.
Reply With Quote