Ford's Next V8 Mustang Could Be The Last. It Better Be Damn Special. (Jalopnik)
As the age of the electric car begins, there are plenty of reasons to believe that a V8-powered Ford Mustang may not be long for this world. With Ford announcing that it will offer only EVs in Europe by 2030 it’s worth wondering whether a V8 Mustang will survive past that date.
All we know for now is that an EV Mustang would need to be ready for sale by 2030 if Ford wants to keep selling Mustangs in Europe (and stick to today’s pledge). That may not sound super compelling, but you may be surprised to learn how much of a success Ford Europe considers the current Mustang. Having been reintroduced to Europe only in 2015, Ford now calls it the “world’s best-selling sports coupe.” Does that mean it’s a make or break product for Ford? Probably not. But it is another reason to imagine the automaker will have to seriously consider building an electric Mustang in the form of the current car.
Of course Ford could continue to sell new generations of V8 Mustangs in other markets like the U.S. — alongside an EV version that also gets shipped to Europe after 2030 or whenever. In a sense it’s doing that now with the Mach-E. But I think all of this offers us a few scheduling hard points to work from when imagining what to expect from the upcoming generation of Mustang — which is again, potentially the last to offer a V8.
If we assume Ford will introduce an all-electric Ford Mustang sports car by 2030, that leaves enough of a gap between now and then for what I’m calling a lame-duck generation. I would anticipate the next-generation Mustang will be a light upgrade of the current platform, and obviously still offer the V8 and manual transmission that enthusiasts demand. But how much attention could this car get when Ford’s engineering teams are hard at work on the future electric next-gen? How big will the budget be to make it feel like a new car compared with the current generation?
Those could be important questions, because if this is the last generation to have a V8 engine, people are going to want it to be damn good.
(image credit: italdesign)
