Last year, automotive intelligence company LMC Automotive published a weekly forecast according to which the seventh-generation Mustang would go into production at the Flat Rock Assembly plant in May 2020. The newest report on the subject sees the start of production date moved to the month of March 2021.
“Wait, what, how?” I wish I had an answer to your curiosity, but I’m afraid I don’t. The source of the amended date is AutoForecast Solutions via Autoline Daily episode 2151. Embedded at the end of this write-up, skip the video to the 3m20s mark for the segment on the S650-generation Mustang.
The host makes a case for March 2021, explaining that Ford usually refreshed a model after four years since its introduction, then applies an all-inclusive overhaul in the eighth year of production. The S550 started rolling off the assembly line in 2014, so the estimated start of production for the S650 is… 2022? Don’t ask about it, but that’s one year off the company’s estimate.
As if the confusion and rumors surrounding the S650 weren’t unbearable enough, the fifth-generation Mustang (S197) was produced for nine years straight. A closure to all this mumbo jumbo comes from none other than Ford itself, which has confirmed the advent of a hybrid-powered Mustang for the year 2020. Bearing in mind the platform underpinning the current generation of the pony car isn’t suited for electrification, you can bet your sweet bippy Ford is referring to the S650 with the somewhat antithetical hybrid Mustang.
On the floor of the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, then chief technical officer Raj Nair let it slip that the S650 Mustang Hybrid will make use of an “EcoBoost-type engine” and “electric motors.” Taken together, the powertrain promises “V8-like performance” and many miles to the gallon. Purists shouldn't be afraid of change because the N/A V8 won't be killed off anytime soon.
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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