The Ford Mustang is turning 50 next year, on April 17, to be precise, and its anniversary is very likely to coincide with the launch of an all-new, more globally-oriented version of the iconic pony car.
Some of the main talking points include that it will be officially offered in Europe, and that it will be getting a turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant, though, this won’t be a first, as the Fox-based model also offered such an engine.
These two aspects may lead fans to believe that the Mustang will lose some of its familiar traits, in search of a broader audience than before. However, while the car will be changed, Raj Nair, Ford’s VP of global product development, assures us that these changes are for the better.
“The thing about refresh rates is they are a key factor in your market share. We’ve got a very strong idea of what a Mustang is,” he told The Detroit News in an interview. “That’s what Mustang will always be.”
However, Europeans have been privately importing Mustangs for a long time, and most of them are V8, so while the car is “an American icon, it’s not solely an American passion,” according to Nair. What’s more, aside from the conquest of Europe, the new ‘Stang needs to win back its domestic market, where it was beaten by the Chevy Camaro last year in the sales charts.
By Andrei Nedelea
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