Mustang to go global.

[DesmoRob]

Car manufacturers could get some good advice by visiting UCP and reading some of the threads of our forums.

[cmcpokey]

what if they brought back the torino moniker? that is a car that had muscle car roots, but was very successful as an estate and a saloon

[jediali]

Mustang V8 TDCi ftw.

35mpg and 500ft-lb of torque? Aww go on then.

you mean ford groups new 3.6 V8 TDVI, good ieda, get a nice chassis (say from jag) and there you have a desirabel euro -stang

[clutch-monkey]

does this mean we can finally buy a mustang from a dealership here? because that would be cool.

i also agree with the diesel comments, but i don't think a wagon or a 4 door is very smart...

[pimento]

Given it's going to be based on the Falcon, it might as well just be the Falcon.. then they can just make the Mustang coupe based off that.

[Mr.Tiv]

I just hope they make it a bit smaller and with irs.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

4 door Mustang FTL.

It's just another example of Ford, running out of fresh ideas, abusing their history.

Still, a Diesel Mustang wagon? Don't call it a mustang but give it sporty features and i'm there

[taz_rocks_miami]

Still Ford is desperate and this illustrates it.

Agreed, this is a very bad idea. Ford is gonna end up killing the Mustang with this stunt. If they wanna bring people back to the showrooms, they should do like back in the 60's. When you had an endless list of performance options, so customers could customize their cars right from the dealer.

[Kitdy]

I think that this will be a good idea for Ford, and in anyway, it at least shows they are truly thinking better than say, GM to try to stay afloat. Personally, I think that the Mustang revision is too soft, and the current more classic muscle-y one is far superior. I think the prototype - or was it a chop? - opf the next next gen mustang was more in the right direction, but still both were insuperior to the current 'Stang / Shelby 'Stang IMHO.

[fpv_gtho]

Given it's going to be based on the Falcon, it might as well just be the Falcon.. then they can just make the Mustang coupe based off that.

That would be the smart idea. Why strip down a Falcon and bastardise a Mustang, when you could just keep it as a Falcon to begin with

[clutch-monkey]

I think that this will be a good idea for Ford, and in anyway, it at least shows they are truly thinking better than say, GM to try to stay afloat.

they're doing exactly the same thing as GM...

[jediali]

4 door Mustang FTL.

It's just another example of Ford, running out of fresh ideas, abusing their history.

Still, a Diesel Mustang wagon? Don't call it a mustang but give it sporty features and i'm there

Ford made jaguar diesel estate, previously unheard of but it wasnt so bad. the x-type isnt great and doesnt really seem to be a jaguar (yes..a mondeo chassis) and furthermore while the jaguar name gave it prestige it never sold as well as predicted. Can Ford learn from this?

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Interesting point actually - people don't respond well to diversification of a name brand unless the product is top notch. the X-Estate ain't terrible but it ain't particularly special either, so indifference leads to poor sales.

$11 Billion in Capital and this was their best idea?

[jediali]

I know its silly idea but.... ford produce some really competitive cars in Europe. The focus handles really well, the mondeo can do a lot, the fiesta is fun, are these sold as they are here worldwide? would these cars be seen as better than local competitors say in China, south america etc etc? market expansion?

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The Chinese market is a global field day at the moment that I don't think ford has a large share in - i've not seen much of their asian product, to be honest.

Most cars sold in South America etc. are second or third generation models, way behind their european counterparts, built simply and cheaply.

Ford tried the worldwide thing with the Mondeo mk 2 (sold in the US at the Contour/Mystique) and it failed, miserably. they've been burnt and have (wisely) decided to tailor cars to the market. perhaps if ford had a Zeta-style platform that they could adapt cars off there would be less product differentiation, but lower overheads. i mean if you get the chassis right (Richard Parry-Jones FTW) you'd be sitting on a goldmine.