Ford couldn't have made a bigger mess of the new Mustang's rollout. Unveiled with much pomp and circumstance in September 2022, the S650 has already experienced multiple delays. The latest development in the saga comes in the guise of a production delay caused by supply chain issues.
What kind of issues? We do not know for certain, but the Blue Oval did confirm supply chain woes in an email published by Dark Horse order holder RacerX. In said email, the Ford Motor Company is committed to updating the YouTuber at least once every 45 days regarding his car's production schedule.
At 2 minutes and 43 seconds of the featured clip, RacerX claims that sources close to Ford have informed him of a production delay to September 2023. We've mailed the Blue Oval in regard to whether this information is true or not, and we'll update our story the moment we get an official reply.
In the meantime, it's possible for RacerX's alleged sources to be correct. No matter how much big kahuna Jim Farley waxes lyrical about improving quality, the Ford Motor Company is a trainwreck in this regard. Case in point: more than 310,000 heavy-duty trucks have been recalled over a driver's airbag that may not deploy due to the steering wheel clock spring.
A better example, however, would be the S650 itself. Earlier this month, a 2024 model year Ford Mustang launch team member confirmed three quality concerns that need to be addressed. These concerns include panel fitment issues, valve issues with the Coyote V8 engine, plus electrical gremlins.
Kudos to the second-largest automaker of the Big Three in Detroit for delaying the Mustang to nip these problems in the bud. Even so, delaying the Mustang yet again over supply chain problems isn't really excusable. 2020 and 2021 are behind us, and we'll hopefully never experience those lockdowns again. The worst of the chip shortage is over as well, so what gives? Considering that we're dealing with a Ford product here, chances are that Ford has once again cheapened out by contracting second-rate suppliers.
The aforementioned valve issues with the naturally-aspirated V8, for example, can be attributed to either Ford's engineering department or the supplier of said valves. In case of the supplier effing it up, a production process issue may be the root cause.
But alas, without any official in-depth information, we can't do anything but speculate as September 2023 draws closer. Whatever may be happening behind closed doors, it's a bad look on the Ford Motor Company, a bad look that leaves a bad taste from a customer's point of view. RacerX is one of those customers, having put down $70,000 for a new Dark Horse.
That's quite a bit of money for a pony car with a derivative of the S550 platform rather than all-new underpinnings. But hey, remember that Ford is the automaker who raised the starting price of the Bronco Raptor from $68,500 to a whopping $83,580. The F-150 Lightning Pro also needs highlighting, for it used to be $39,974 compared to $59,974 at press time.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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