The current, sixth-generation Ford Mustang (S550) is marching toward obsolescence as the Blue Oval reportedly plans to launch a fresh redesign of the iconic pony car in 2021, according to Automotive News. Given the automaker’s recent efforts to reduce engineering costs and time-to-market across the lineup, partly by switching to five scalable vehicle architectures instead of relying on myriad different platforms, it’s reasonable to expect the next Mustang could be based on the same RWD/AWD architecture as the next-generation Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator
While few Ford Mustang customers will delight in the fact that they can tell onlookers their car shares its bones with a full-size utility vehicle, the move could allow Ford to offer an all-wheel-drive version to compete with Dodge’s AWD Challenger and Charger models. That could broaden the car’s appeal, making it more suitable for year-round use in places that see regular snowfall during the winter months.
The current-generation Mustang is built on its own, unique vehicle platform – a strategy that’s much more expensive than utilizing the same platform for multiple different vehicles.
Despite the forthcoming next-generation Mustang’s common underpinnings, it “is still going to be a strong, well proportioned vehicle,” Mustang Chief Designer Darrell Behmer says. “The modular architectures will still give us flexibility; it’s not going to bastardize Mustang.”
There’s also the matter of the first-ever hybrid Ford Mustang, which had been slated for arrival by 2020. Given that date’s proximity to the rumored arrival date of the seventh-generation (S650) car, it’s likely that the hybrid will be based on that car rather than the current-generation one. Ford has, in the past, touted the forthcoming model’s “V8” levels of performance, suggesting that the hybrid will utilize a smaller petrol engine than Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8, coupled with an electric motor to deliver greater acceleration than the Coyote-powered GT variant. *****TAKEN FROM FORD AUTHORITY*****
While few Ford Mustang customers will delight in the fact that they can tell onlookers their car shares its bones with a full-size utility vehicle, the move could allow Ford to offer an all-wheel-drive version to compete with Dodge’s AWD Challenger and Charger models. That could broaden the car’s appeal, making it more suitable for year-round use in places that see regular snowfall during the winter months.
The current-generation Mustang is built on its own, unique vehicle platform – a strategy that’s much more expensive than utilizing the same platform for multiple different vehicles.
Despite the forthcoming next-generation Mustang’s common underpinnings, it “is still going to be a strong, well proportioned vehicle,” Mustang Chief Designer Darrell Behmer says. “The modular architectures will still give us flexibility; it’s not going to bastardize Mustang.”
There’s also the matter of the first-ever hybrid Ford Mustang, which had been slated for arrival by 2020. Given that date’s proximity to the rumored arrival date of the seventh-generation (S650) car, it’s likely that the hybrid will be based on that car rather than the current-generation one. Ford has, in the past, touted the forthcoming model’s “V8” levels of performance, suggesting that the hybrid will utilize a smaller petrol engine than Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8, coupled with an electric motor to deliver greater acceleration than the Coyote-powered GT variant. *****TAKEN FROM FORD AUTHORITY*****