2015 Mustang unveiled to crowds around the world
Ford unveiled its new 50th anniversary 2015 Mustang on Thursday, Dec. 5, with echoes of the past and brand-new bells and whistles.
Ford Mustang enthusiasts around the world got their first look at the all-new 2015 model today with a series of events on four continents.
Enthusiasts in Europe and Australia were among the first to see it. In Dearborn, employees and dealers were invited to the standing-room only event to see the 2015 model that is lower, wider and sleeker than the outgoing model.
'I was going to throw my wallet on the stage,' said Bill Cook, a Ford employee in sales and marketing who owns two Mustangs already and lined up to attend the Dearborn event.
To mark the occasion, Ford invited its very first Mustang customer to the stage in Dearborn: Gail Wise bought her Mustang April 15, 1964 - two days before the sports car was slated to go on sale. She was in the dealership and wanted a convertible. The sales staff showed her the new Mustang still covered up in the back and she bought it. Her husband put an addition on the garage to house it.
Other events were held at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles as well as in Barcelona, Spain; Sydney, Australia and Shanghai, China.
Ford executives had fanned out across the globe for the day's events. CEO Alan Mulally is in New York where a stint on 'Good Morning America' was followed by a series of media interviews and appearances.
When pressed by media about being shortlisted to become the next CEO of Microsoft, Mulally repeated the party line that he plans to stay at Ford through the end of next year. But he does not have a contract binding him to Ford and Mulally once again refused to quash the speculation by denying his candidacy to oversee the software giant. Ford director Edsel Ford also repeated the line that Mulally's plan is to stay with the automaker. Microsoft reportedly wants to select its next top executive by year's end.
Second-in-command Mark Fields, the chief operating officer, was at the events in Dearborn. Joe Hinrichs, president of The Americas, and product development chief Raj Nair were in L.A.
Executive Chairman Bill Ford and global marketing chief Jim Farley are in Barcelona. Ford's new head of powertrain engineering Bob Fascetti is in Australia.
Normally an important reveal like this would occur at an auto show but Ford executives were hard-pressed to choose which show was best-suited for a car that wants to herald its new global status so a date was picked for a multi-city unveiling.
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month might have been an obvious choice but the automaker has other plans for that show.
'In Detroit next year we've got a lot of news and we want to make sure we're spreading the news out,' said Moray Callum, head of design for The Americas. 'So we're showing the Mustang this week and showed the Lincoln MKC a few weeks ago.'
Some thought the automaker would wait until the car's 50th anniversary on April 17. There were concerns about continued leaks of details about the car if the automaker waited that long.
The new Mustang will go on sale next fall with the fastback followed a few months later by a convertible with a cloth top. Fields would not provide volume projections or estimate the percentage of international sales when it goes on sale in other markets in 2015.
Chief Creative Officer J Mays noted the car has generated 50 years of pentup demand in markets where it has not been available.
Callum said part of the mandate was to keep the car in a range where the man on the street can afford it.
'That's always a challenge to add as much features and genuine materials and technology as we can,' Callum said. 'It is always a battle to get that mixture right but I think we have got it right in this car.'
It has a choice of an entry-level V6, a premium four-cylinder EcoBoost engine or the performance V8. And the 2015 Mustang has a new suspension and independent rear axle.
But Callum said the car was a designer's dream to work on.
'You just ask designers to start to sketch a Mustang and they start sketching Mustangs. You don't need to overanalyze it. Everyone wants to design a car like this.'
Callum's team knew the car would be global from the outset but it stayed true to its American heritage, knowing that is what customers in Europe and China wanted. There was never pressure, for example, to stretch the backseat for China where many owners ride in the back and have a driver.
'Most people said give us 100 percent Mustang,' he said.
Callum said the car can be easily tweaked to meet regional regulations.
All Mustangs will be built and shipped out of the Flat Rock plant in Michigan which is preparing to build prototypes of the fastback in January and be in production by June. She does not know when convertible production will begin.
'Everything is contained within one plant, one platform and it's going to service the world,' said Chief Engineer Dave Pericak.
Downtime this month at Flat Rock will be used to further prepare the plant and train workers, said Susan Spaulding of Dundee who works in the paint shop. She blamed the shutdowns scheduled for this month on slow Mustang sales by buyers who wanted to wait and see the next-generation sports car before making a purchase decision.
Keith Batko, general manager at Russ Milne Ford in Macomb, agreed. He said sales have been on hold for three or four months with customers saying they need to see the 2015 model before deciding whether to buy now or wait. Batko owns 20 Mustangs himself and stores them in an industrial building.
The paint shop, for example, required modification because the new Mustang is wider than the one it replaces. 'We cut a wall to fit,' said Spaulding, 47, who named her daughter Shelby in honor of the specialty Mustangs.
'I'm excited to hear the hoof beats of our 50th anniversary Mustang galloping down the line,' Spaulding said.
The new car started development back in 2009 when the auto industry was in distress and lacked resources. Callum said Ford did not cut back on the Mustang program and it did not hamper its development.
Pericak said the initial plan was an evolution of the underpinnings of the current Mustang but it was discarded in favor of a new platform to accommodate the features and technologies of the 2015 model.
Pericak said the car has more than 20 new technologies.
The car has a better weight balance front to rear but Pericak would not say how much lighter it is from the outgoing model.
'There is not a piece of sheet metal on the car that hasn't been changed from the floor pan to the rails,' Pericak said. 'It's all been redone.'
He is pleased with the result. 'There is nothing left wanting. It is at the top of its game. I think we are going to surprise and delight the world.'
Purists never like when a signature car is redone, said Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics.
'Any car with a strong bond with its customers, you can't win. You have to do what's right for where you want the car to go. In that respect Ford's right on the money.'
Hall said the Mustang should have about two years of being the newest sports car before it is challenged by all-new versions of the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger.
He said in the future the Camaro will have to get lighter and the Challenger smaller to better compete.
Contact Alisa Priddle: (313) 222-5394 or apriddle@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisaPriddle.
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