Photo: Andrei Nedelea/Ford for autoevolution
It’s not hard to understand why Ford took the leap to create a Mustang-inspired crossover vehicle.
This type of high-rider is surging in popularity right now and the Blue Oval is only doing what big corporations do: trying to maximize its return on investment. In other words, it wants to make as much money as possible from the Mustang Mach-E, even if this means severely diluting the nameplate.
SUVs and crossovers are big business right now, in the face of falling sedan and hatchback sales, and manufacturers are more than happy to jump on this bandwagon, all in the quest for profits. And we understand why they’re doing this - the automotive manufacturing business is one of the toughest and most competitive in the world and automakers are blatantly copying each other’s formulas for success.
As I discussed in this article, when manufacturers made their first pure electric vehicle, most of them created an SUV. This is definitely a trend and Ford understandably wants a piece of that action.
And this would have been fine if it wasn’t for one specific detail - they called their all-electric crossover a Mustang. Back before the vehicle was revealed, and Ford was just teasing it, it announced the fact that it was Mustang-inspired and that it would be called the Mach-E.
This caused a bit of outrage among fans of the galloping stallion, so much so that Ford stopped calling it the Mach E in all subsequent teasers, resorting to simply calling the vehicle Mustang-inspired. Now this is a sign that Ford was alienating those for whom the Mustang name and brand meant something, in the quest to woo non car-savvy millennials (who specifically don’t want a Tesla) its way.
And unlike Ford, who just went out and made an SUV like everybody else, Tesla had a different strategy which has so far kept the manufacturer in business, in spite of all odds. The EV maker sells what is pretty much a direct rival to the Mustang Mach-E, but at the same time, it also sells a lower, sportier and more fun hatchback version of the same vehicle, the Model 3.
In fact, the Model 3 is widely acknowledged as being one of the best and most fun to drive electric vehicles out there and it’s also proving remarkably popular too. The Model 3’s undeniable popularity, and driving dynamics better than those of a comparable crossover made me wonder what if Ford had not made the Mach E a high-riding vehicle.
The Blue Oval makes it plainly clear that it has engineered the Mach E to be a fun car to drive, and we have no doubts about that, even if nobody has driven it yet. The brand’s track record does instill confidence that it can make a fun to drive car, even if that car is a crossover.
I’m not against the Mach E being a crossover, but I can’t help but think what it would have been like (and how it could have been better) if it was just a regular hatch. Ford’s sporty hatchbacks are some of the best to drive in the world, so it could have resulted in something rather special.
But instead of idly standing around imagining what it might have been like, I went ahead and tried to remodel the Mach E to look like the sporty hatchback I would have preferred instead. I didn’t change its look too much, just made its body and ride height lower and I did a number of small other changes to make it look like it came from the factory this way; come on, admit it, it looks better as a lower vehicle than it does as a crossover.
SUVs and crossovers are big business right now, in the face of falling sedan and hatchback sales, and manufacturers are more than happy to jump on this bandwagon, all in the quest for profits. And we understand why they’re doing this - the automotive manufacturing business is one of the toughest and most competitive in the world and automakers are blatantly copying each other’s formulas for success.
As I discussed in this article, when manufacturers made their first pure electric vehicle, most of them created an SUV. This is definitely a trend and Ford understandably wants a piece of that action.
And this would have been fine if it wasn’t for one specific detail - they called their all-electric crossover a Mustang. Back before the vehicle was revealed, and Ford was just teasing it, it announced the fact that it was Mustang-inspired and that it would be called the Mach-E.
This caused a bit of outrage among fans of the galloping stallion, so much so that Ford stopped calling it the Mach E in all subsequent teasers, resorting to simply calling the vehicle Mustang-inspired. Now this is a sign that Ford was alienating those for whom the Mustang name and brand meant something, in the quest to woo non car-savvy millennials (who specifically don’t want a Tesla) its way.
And unlike Ford, who just went out and made an SUV like everybody else, Tesla had a different strategy which has so far kept the manufacturer in business, in spite of all odds. The EV maker sells what is pretty much a direct rival to the Mustang Mach-E, but at the same time, it also sells a lower, sportier and more fun hatchback version of the same vehicle, the Model 3.
In fact, the Model 3 is widely acknowledged as being one of the best and most fun to drive electric vehicles out there and it’s also proving remarkably popular too. The Model 3’s undeniable popularity, and driving dynamics better than those of a comparable crossover made me wonder what if Ford had not made the Mach E a high-riding vehicle.
The Blue Oval makes it plainly clear that it has engineered the Mach E to be a fun car to drive, and we have no doubts about that, even if nobody has driven it yet. The brand’s track record does instill confidence that it can make a fun to drive car, even if that car is a crossover.
I’m not against the Mach E being a crossover, but I can’t help but think what it would have been like (and how it could have been better) if it was just a regular hatch. Ford’s sporty hatchbacks are some of the best to drive in the world, so it could have resulted in something rather special.
But instead of idly standing around imagining what it might have been like, I went ahead and tried to remodel the Mach E to look like the sporty hatchback I would have preferred instead. I didn’t change its look too much, just made its body and ride height lower and I did a number of small other changes to make it look like it came from the factory this way; come on, admit it, it looks better as a lower vehicle than it does as a crossover.
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