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4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
F
ord’s muscle car icon,
the Mustang, will enter its
next generation in 2022 –
and Autocar understands
it will be brought into a new era
with its first hybrid powertrain.
An electrified variant of the
Mustang will join the electric
Mustang Mach-E, which is due
to be delivered to customers
from this autumn, as Ford’s
electrification roll-out gathers
momentum. Ford plans to
launch 18 mild-hybrid and
full-hybrid models by 2022,
and the next Mustang is
thought to be one of those.
The firm is hoping for the
new model to build on the
success of the current, S550-
generation car, which has been
on sale since 2015 and was the
first Mustang to be marketed
and sold globally. This meant
the first-ever right-hand-drive
Mustang sales were finally
made possible. Ford has
shifted 55,000 examples of
the current car across Europe
- more than ever before
in the Mustang’s history.
The next-generation
Mustang, codenamed S650,
will follow that template by
making a return to mainland
Europe in left-hand drive and
the UK in right-hand drive,
Autocar understands.
The new Mustang would
have arrived far sooner were
it not for a reversal of product
plans. In 2017, Ford announced
it would bring a hybrid Mustang
to market in 2020. But that
same year, Jim Hackett
stepped up to the role of Ford
CEO and decided instead to
prioritise getting a Mustang-
inspired EV, the Mach-E, to
market as its long-awaited first
mass-production electric car.
Now that the Mach-E
has been developed and its
launch is around the corner,
attention has turned back
to the standard coupé and
convertible Mustang models,
which are still expected
to dominate sales of the
nameplate for some time yet.
Fo r d i s h o p i n g to a p p e a s e i t s
loyal following of enthusiasts
by retaining the V8 option, but
this time it will be mated to a
fuel-saving hybrid system.
A US patent filed by Ford
in 2017, when the original
plan was in place, refers
to technical drawings of a
“twin-motor drive system for
hybrid vehicle”. These show
an eight-cylinder engine in a
vee formation sending power
to the rear wheels – a classic
Mustang trait. But the filingNew Mustang to go four-
wheel drive with hybrid V
Electrified V8 will spearhead the 2022 arrival of the next-generation Ford Mustang