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FORTUNE.COM // DECEMBER 2019
tecture for a Lincoln luxury model
and other future EVs.
If Mustang fans are doubtful
that an electric powertrain could
adequately carry on the brand’s
traditions, consider a key property
of electric motors: instant, all-
encompassing torque. Unlike gaso-
line engines, which have a “torque
curve” requiring some runway to
peak, electric motors immediately
offer all the accelerating force they
have to give—a characteristic that
might appeal to any Mustang fan
concerned about the Mach-E’s
sprinting abilities.
“This Mustang will excite con-
sumers,” says Ted Cannis, Ford’s
global head of electrification. “It
will beat a Porsche Macan”—the
German automaker’s compact
sport utility model—“off the line’’
thanks to a zero-to-60 mph time
of about six seconds. (A future GT
version with a second motor will
manage the feat in 4.5 seconds.)
On top of that is a serious
upgrade to the vehicle’s elec-
tronic architecture. The Mustang
Mach-E will be Ford’s first produc-
tion vehicle to employ high-speed
data connectivity, making possible
a large, data-driven dashboard
display and over-the-air software
updates—just like Tesla’s.
Cannis candidly acknowledges
that his team drew heavily from
Tesla’s playbook, inside and out.
But an open question remains:
Can Ford stoke the same level
of enthusiasm for the Mustang
Mach-E that Tesla elicited with its
Model 3 and its 500,000 advance
reservations?
F
ORD NEEDS the Mustang
Mach-E to succeed,
if nothing more than
to prove that its latest
strategy works at a time when
automakers worldwide are under
duress. How bad, you ask? Global
automotive sales declined last year
for the first time since 2009, and
forecasts predict substantial de-
clines every year through 2021. The
term “peak car” has been uttered.
A cloud of uncertainty already
hangs over Dearborn. Ford shares
have fallen 30% in the past year, to
about $9, amid mediocre profit-
ability. Moody’s, the credit ratings
agency, downgraded the company’s
creditworthiness to junk status.
Meanwhile, analysts have ex-
pressed reservations about Ford’s
latest restructuring as well as its
plan to improve profitability, quar-terbacked by CEO Jim Hackett.
Hackett, the former CEO of
office-furniture maker Steelcase,
earlier had served as Ford’s head
of driverless vehicle technol-
ogy and future mobility business
development. Upon succeeding
Mark Fields in May 2017, Hack-
ett ordered a consolidation of
electrification efforts, which had
been distributed across various
departments. Speed wasn’t his
only concern. Ford brass fretted
that the company’s EV develop-
ment was progressing toward a
mundane model, leading execu-
tive vice president Jim Farley to
scrap an unnamed crossover slated
to be Ford’s first electric vehicle.
Approaching Ford’s entry into the
all-electric category with a member
of the Mustang family increasingly
looked like an attractive option.
So the automaker quickly
recalibrated. In fall 2017, Ford
transferred more than a thousand
employees working on electrifica-
tion to “Team Edison,” a nod to
the storied inventor and close
friend of Henry Ford’s. Cannis,
a 30-year company veteran, was
named its leader. Months later,
Bill Ford, the automaker’s execu-
tive chairman, unveiled a five-year,
$11 billion electrification program
that is expected to fund 20 new
EV models and the build-out of a
battery-charging network in the
U.S.—reassurance, perhaps, for
drivers concerned about charging
an electric car.
Today Ford is halfway to its 2022
finish line. In the meantime, it’s
happily accepting $500 deposits
on the Mustang Mach-E with plans
to begin rolling them off its as-
sembly line in Cuautitlán, Mexico,
next year. Will Ford’s wager on a
reimagined Mustang pay off? And
what of the company? Whatever
the answer, it’s clear that the stakes
couldn’t be higher.FORD’S RADICAL MUSTANG MACH-E
Q&A: BILL FORD,
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN,
FORD MOTOR CO.
FORTUNE: What does the
Mustang brand mean to you?
BILL FORD: My favorite of all
time. And I own a lot of them—
between 10 and 15.You’re Henry Ford’s great-
grandson but also a longtime
environmental advocate.
When I started at Ford in 1979,
I was shocked at the lack of
awareness among some people
at the company. There was out-
right hostility to the discussion
of environmental issues.And now the Mustang Mach-E.
I was against it initially. As we
dug deeper, it didn’t seem like
such a crazy idea. I told them:
The performance numbers have
to stand on their own. They were
good, we weren’t giving up a lot
of range, and the styling was
compelling. That won me over.