When the ball drops in Times Square and calendars turn over to 2015 there will be a shot (or exhaust note as it were) heard round the world. Ford’s move comes in commemoration of the iconic pony car’s 50th anniversary. Yes, we’re having a hard time believing it’s been that long too.
Part of the problem with selling the Mustang in a global market is adjusting it to allow for both right- and left-hand drive configurations. That issue managed, for the most part, to keep the car out of markets like Australia, the U.K. and Japan.
Ford is tackling that problem and boosting Mustang production, but it begs a question: will this change the ‘Stang we get here in the U.S., and how?
The trouble is, safety standards aren’t the same in other countries, which means Ford will have to modify more than the seat sitting behind the driver’s wheel. For example, European safety standards include pedestrian impact protection.
It’s easy to wonder if the next generation Mustang, which we reported previously will include a Shelby GT500, will be packing on any extra weight thanks to new standards. Hopefully not, but unifying production as much as possible could be an easy cost saver for Ford as it moves more into global distribution.
Mustangs fording the big pond (pun intended) also brings another old story to life: the possibility for a turbocharged four-cylinder invading an otherwise V6-minimum zone.
It’s true that the company offered a four cylinder Mustang in the past, and to be fair it was generally well regarded, but the bulky body and chassis we know today is far from the sardine can shell that hosted the first-gen fox bodies.
Another rumored change that could have the pony car’s purists fuming is an independent rear suspension. While adding that component to the drivetrain might make it more palatable to worldwide sports car buyers, it falls from an otherwise unchanged live rear axle history.
Official information about the 2015 Mustang is sparse, but we’ll be reporting it as soon as more breaks.
