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01-21-2010, 01:45 PM
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Ford is planning an independent rear suspension (IRS) for the next-generation Mustang. Due out in 2014, this next model will celebrate 50 years of the iconic pony car.
The news comes from Motor Trend after discussions with several Ford execs and one unnamed company insider. It is also based on several assumptions, which include the fact that a new global independent rear end platform is in the works after Ford cancelled plans for a different rear-drive independent platform that was to underpin the Mustang, next generation Ford Falcon (in Australia) and an upcoming Lincoln model.
A new Mustang-based IRS platform would mean that the Falcon and Lincoln models would be canceled – which Ford has indicated is already the case for the Falcon, a model that has seen sales slump considerably over the past several years.
In order to make a new IRS platform affordable, Ford would have to take the Mustang global. While this does meet with Ford's new One Ford approach for global platform, in our recent discussions with Ford marketing boss Jim Farley, he indicated that the Mustang wasn't likely to ever become a global seller.
Many of the details are still unclear and the report suggests the next Mustang may simply be an evolution of the current car or that it may go in two other very-different directions. The first would be along the lines of the BMW M3, shrinking the size of the car and using a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. The second would be to take the car to an almost exotic level and take on cars like the Nissan GT-R.
More: Report: 2014 Ford Mustang to Get Independent Rear Suspension (http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/01/report-2014-ford-mustang-to-get-independent-rear-suspension.html) on AutoGuide.com
Ford is planning an independent rear suspension (IRS) for the next-generation Mustang. Due out in 2014, this next model will celebrate 50 years of the iconic pony car.
The news comes from Motor Trend after discussions with several Ford execs and one unnamed company insider. It is also based on several assumptions, which include the fact that a new global independent rear end platform is in the works after Ford cancelled plans for a different rear-drive independent platform that was to underpin the Mustang, next generation Ford Falcon (in Australia) and an upcoming Lincoln model.
A new Mustang-based IRS platform would mean that the Falcon and Lincoln models would be canceled – which Ford has indicated is already the case for the Falcon, a model that has seen sales slump considerably over the past several years.
In order to make a new IRS platform affordable, Ford would have to take the Mustang global. While this does meet with Ford's new One Ford approach for global platform, in our recent discussions with Ford marketing boss Jim Farley, he indicated that the Mustang wasn't likely to ever become a global seller.
Many of the details are still unclear and the report suggests the next Mustang may simply be an evolution of the current car or that it may go in two other very-different directions. The first would be along the lines of the BMW M3, shrinking the size of the car and using a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. The second would be to take the car to an almost exotic level and take on cars like the Nissan GT-R.
More: Report: 2014 Ford Mustang to Get Independent Rear Suspension (http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/01/report-2014-ford-mustang-to-get-independent-rear-suspension.html) on AutoGuide.com