DEARBORN, MI – On a blustery spring day, Ford commemorates the 54th anniversary of the Mustang’s world premiere at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, touts the pony car’s global sales leadership and announces the Mustang will replace the Fusion sedan as the automaker’s NASCAR standard-bearer next year.
The latter news may be the most significant and another sign Ford’s car strategy going forward might not include the Fusion. Suppliers were told last November a planned redesign is on hold, leaving the car’s future in limbo with the possibility the model could be canceled in North America.
Ford reportedly also is dropping the slow-selling Fiesta subcompact and the Taurus large sedan, potentially leaving the Mustang and Focus as the Dearborn automaker’s only remaining car models as the company shifts toward a truck- and SUV-heavy lineup. A plan outlined by Ford CEO Jim Hackett in March indicates trucks and SUVs will make up 86% of the company’s lineup by 2020.
Despite that shift, Ford spokesman Mike Levine says the company stands by its cars, including the Fusion. The ’19 Fusion gets the automaker’s sophisticated Co-Pilot 360 driver-assistance technology, added range for the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid and sleeker front and rear styling.
“The Fusion is still an important part of the lineup,” Levine says.
It makes sense to replace the Fusion with the Mustang in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, because the sports car has had a successful track record, winning championships in all but one season since 2011 in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series, Ford officials add.
The Mustang’s crosstown competitor, the Chevrolet Camaro, also competes in NASCAR’s top circuit. The Mustang campaigns in the Supercar series in Australia and in the GT4 series in Europe as well.
Ford spokesman Jiyan Cadiz adds the Mustang has undergone a major midcycle makeover including restyled sheet metal and extensive technology updates in the past year, while changes for the ’19 Fusion are less visible.
Amid wind-chilled 54th anniversary celebrations here at Ford World Headquarters, the company announces the Mustang was the best-selling sports coupe in the world for the third consecutive year in 2017. Ford sold 125,809 Mustangs globally last year, giving it leadership in the segment that includes 2-door hardtops and convertibles, according to registration data compiled by IHS Markit.
Of those, Ford sold 81,866 Mustangs in the U.S., leaving about one-third of the sales in the remaining 145 countries where the pony car is marketed, including China, where the Mustang was the top-selling sports coupe with 7,125 registrations. The top-selling engine globally is the 5.0L V-8, a 2018 Wards 10 Best Engines winner in the Mustang GT.
“The world loves Ford Mustang,” says Erich Merkle, Ford sales analyst. “For years, Mustang was unobtainable for customers on most parts of the planet. It could only be found on TV or the internet, and now it rolls down streets from Beijing to São Paulo.”
In the U.S., the Mustang continues to outpace competitors in the mid-specialty segment despite sales declines in recent years, Wards Intelligence data indicates. In 2017, the Camaro ran second at 67,940 sales, followed by the Dodge Challenger with 64,537 and the Nissan 370Z at 4,614.
In addition to its worldwide sales leadership since 2015, Mustang holds U.S. leadership with sales totaling 310,147 in 2015-17, followed by Camaro (218,147), Challenger (195,347) and 370Z (17,918).
[email protected] @bobgritzinger
