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2014 Mustang To Have Global Design Influences (the Silver ride)
By Sam Haymart
One Ford. That is the creed in Dearborn these days brought into the glass house by Alan Mulally. The ideology is based on breaking the decades old thinking and management of different Ford product lines for different continents. One Ford has been the impetus behind new world products like the new Fiesta, Focus, and soon coming C-Max.
News comes this week from the Geneva auto show that the next generation Mustang will for the first time be developed with more global influence. Autoweek Magazine is reporting that the 2014 Mustang will be designed with input from Ford of Europe, Australia and Asia divisions.
The actual design will be headed up in Dearborn, but concepts and ideas will be shared from marketing groups, design and engineering studios globally.
“It is a common process we use on every vehicle,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president for global product development, at the Geneva auto show. “When we embark on a new product, particularly one that is all new, it involves all of the studios. Then J Mays and the design team pick the best of those themes”
This should come as no surprise given that Ford likely sees the need for the Mustang to be a viable product to market in Europe, Australia, and even Asia in the coming decades. With the pony car becoming more of a niche vehicle and the only rear-drive car the company builds in America, they need to be able to share more commonality with products world-wide for it to survive. The car needs to sell around the world to survive.
Being able to sell more Mustangs in Europe and other continents means making the car more appealing to those markets. This means the obvious. The car needs to be smaller, lighter, and more efficient. And in styling, the next generation Mustang will not only need to appeal to Americans, but buyers around the world.
Kuzak said, “The Mustang is not just an icon in North America, it is an icon globally.” This statement may bring an uncomfortable chill up the spines of many red-blooded Americans who are tiring of the notion that we need to be more like Europeans or other societies so they will “like us”. On the other hand, having more global influence in engineering could be a good thing when it comes to performance.
While little is known about platform derivatives or specifications at this point it is expected that the next generation Mustang will ride on a rear-wheel drive chassis with independent rear suspension. A four cylinder engine will likely be standard at least for global markets, leading the way for Eco-Boost versions. And don’t worry, V6 and V8 engines would also be expected as they are the back-bone of the Mustang icon.
Additionally, to make a rear-wheel drive platform viable on a global scale it would need to be shared with some other model or models in other markets, leading many to suggest that it would be co-developed with Ford Australia and their Falcon line. Only time will tell.
The 50th anniversary of the mustang is going to be a head-scratcher for Ford, according to our colleagues at Motor Trend.
The 2014 Ford Mustang was going to use the underpinnings of Ford Australia’s Falcon platform, similar to GM’s use of the Holden Commodore platform for the Chevrolet Camaro.
Motor Trend says that this plan is no longer feasible due to a slump in Ford Falcon sales, upcoming fuel and emissions regulations requiring a light-weight platform and a soon to be lack of finances for Ford to develop the new Mustang.
So with the unfortunate death of the next generation Falcon, what’s going to happen with the next Mustang?
Motor Trend comes to the conclusion, according to the guarantee of the next Mustang retaining its rear-wheel drive, that the new car will be the basis of Ford’s “global rear-wheel drive platform.
Upcoming emission and fuel economy standards are going to require the Mustang to shed some pounds and go down a size or two, creating a car suited for European and Asian markets.
While 2011 holds some great anticipation with what we know now, the 2014 Mustang is still an enigma.
In 4 years, the Mustang will be 50 years old. For that anniversary, Ford is planning a new face for the well-known muscle car. J Mays, the vice president of Ford’s global design and chief creative officer said that the next-generation Mustang will be a ‘very cool car’. He also said that the 2014 Mustang will be ‘a jump forward’ from any point of view.
Mays said that the car will still remain a pure blood muscle car, but at the same time it still has ‘50 years of life left in it’. The Ford engineers will add some technology to the 2014 Mustang, but still keep it simple to understand: engine in the front, traction in the back and a steering wheel in the middle.
The current Mustang already has great handling capabilities, but engineers are planning to mount an independent rear suspension which could improve lateral grip and ride refinement. It is also said that the next-gen Mustang will use direct injection and a Power Shift dual-clutch transmission.
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Last edited by KryptonKnight on Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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I know there are only so many ways to make the greenhouse but come on! Are we on our way to having the pony cars all look a like except grilles and rear ends? I know when I see that silver or tan car coming down the road it could be a Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Hyundai, Kia...they all look the same now.
of course we all know how the Mustang changed on the 2004 Concept . who knows. Only Ford knows.