S650 cancelled?

[Glenn G]

Let me play devil's advocate here a bit. You have a platform (S550) that is outselling all of its competition globally. So the plan is to make that the shortest lived platform in the nameplate's history?
What this hopefully means is that someone delivered a plan that shows the S550 platform can be modified to meet or exceed what current competition are doing for less cost than a clean sheet design. Ford has done it twice now with the mustang. Fox to fox4/SN95 and DEW98/S197 to S550. The added cost benefit of not having to recertify a chassis for crash testing also cannot be overlooked. What this means is that the current chassis will be modified like the F150 did to use more aluminum in place of steel. The bright side for us car enthusiasts will be parts from new cars being nearly direct bolt one for a 5-10 year old car (I think of a guy I knew in the army that had a cobra IRS and brakes on a fox notch.)

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[Ericc B]

If all of this turns out to be true and they release MY 2020 as the definitive second facelift S550 (like they did on the 2013) it may turn out to be a great decision after all.

 

[Cardude99]

I have no issues if they just do another facelift, just don't cancel the Mustang

 

[nrc]

I'm skeptical that they can stay competitive with the current platform. They need it to lose some weight unless CAFE targets change significantly.

I'm a little worried that we're seeing a repeat of the '90s when Ford was ignoring their passenger cars in favor of trucks. They may think it's different now because they're focusing on making sure that they're not caught out by disruptive change. But abandoning market segments just because they're not a cash cow is a ticket to a shrinking market share that can ruin them as surely as disruption by autonomous vehicles or electrics.

There's some speculation that Ford will switch the next generation Mustang to share a new modular platform that can handle front, rear, or AWD configurations. That wouldn't be a bad thing as long as it can be stiffer and lighter than the current platform and also support an appropriate suspension and drivetrain.

 

[jake_zx2]

Now, I'm no business major, but I feel like the best long term solution to building ford's stock price would be to invest in other companies. As far as I know, FoMoCo only currently owns one company (Lincoln) which is a fairly low-volume brand. Because of this, not only are they missing out on multiple parts of the market, but they also lose the ability to efficiently develop multi-use platforms. This is what helps GM succeed... they have multiple brands that all take advantage of different parts of the market, and are able to share platforms across all of those brands, therefore leading to more profit per platform.

 

[TomcatDriver]

Now, I'm no business major, but I feel like the best long term solution to building ford's stock price would be to invest in other companies. As far as I know, FoMoCo only currently owns one company (Lincoln) which is a fairly low-volume brand. Because of this, not only are they missing out on multiple parts of the market, but they also lose the ability to efficiently develop multi-use platforms. This is what helps GM succeed... they have multiple brands that all take advantage of different parts of the market, and are able to share platforms across all of those brands, therefore leading to more profit per platform.

Ford was on that track for a while but then has been pairing back it's holdings for quite a while. In addition to axing old US sub-brands (Mercury) it acquired and then sold off Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, Land Rover, and a big stake in Mazda. All those companies seem to be doing OK under different ownership, and I don't see how divesting has helped Ford. If it keeps it up it's going to be like any number of companies that kept selling off part of themselves to maintain the quarterly balance sheet only to find out in the end that they made nothing and were nothing.

 

[Spitfire]

If all of this turns out to be true and they release MY 2020 as the definitive second facelift S550 (like they did on the 2013) it may turn out to be a great decision after all.

Maybe the change between the 2020 and 2021MY is like the change we had between 2009 and 2010, just squeeze a facelfit before (since there was no facelift prior 2010).

Who knows....

If the mustang gets updated in the same way it was updated on 2010 it's fine by me, same platform, same generation but new things.

Something like this (Making the 6th Gen last until 2024):
2015 New Model
2018 MCA
2021 Significant Update
2023 MCA/ICA
2025 Completely New generation with new platform,

 

[Spirit Of Fire]

I am getting pretty tired of Ford and their shenanigans as of late. Based on what they show at the Detroit autoshow in janurary, I MIGHT get another Mustang or sell off my 2015 GT and just get a Mclaren 570S. At least with that, I'd be dealing with a company that cares about its cars (looks and performance) and not just chasing quarterly gains. It'd come at a bigger price point but it'd worth the price.

 

[Glenn G]

I am getting pretty tired of Ford and their shenanigans as of late. Based on what they show at the Detroit autoshow in janurary, I MIGHT get another Mustang or sell off my 2015 GT and just get a Mclaren 570S. At least with that, I'd be dealing with a company that cares about its cars (looks and performance) and not just chasing quarterly gains. It'd come at a bigger price point but it'd worth the price.

Unfortunately that price point is several orders of magnitude above the "every man" performance car the mustang is supposed to be. That being said if you can swing it, there's not much point in looking at Mustangs, I wouldn't!

 

[200MPHCOBRA]

I am getting pretty tired of Ford and their shenanigans as of late. Based on what they show at the Detroit autoshow in janurary, I MIGHT get another Mustang or sell off my 2015 GT and just get a Mclaren 570S. At least with that, I'd be dealing with a company that cares about its cars (looks and performance) and not just chasing quarterly gains. It'd come at a bigger price point but it'd worth the price.

Hmmmm, Mustang or McLaren, I just can't make up my mind.....

 

[Darkane]

I am getting pretty tired of Ford and their shenanigans as of late. Based on what they show at the Detroit autoshow in janurary, I MIGHT get another Mustang or sell off my 2015 GT and just get a Mclaren 570S. At least with that, I'd be dealing with a company that cares about its cars (looks and performance) and not just chasing quarterly gains. It'd come at a bigger price point but it'd worth the price.

Hahahah, this post is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.

Mustang or McLaren.

 

[Topnotch]

Yep S650 OR DB11... just the V8 though

 

[wildcatgoal]

All this talk of hybrids and EVs. I had a Chevy Volt. It was the best car I've ever owned. Dead quiet inside, even most of the time when the gas engine running. Overbuilt. My gasoline costs went from $430 to $50 a month with a 60 mile (both ways) commute AND I got to take the carpool lane, which made getting to work sometimes 30-min. quicker. I drove to Dallas from Atlanta, Chicago from Atlanta, no issues. Was the only factory stereo (Bose) that I've ever had that was remotely any good. It handled well. Fit everywhere. The electrical costs were barely noticed. I was a fool to sell it. But I wanted the new Mustang and I knew I'd be moving to a place I wouldn't have a charger for it (but didn't realize I could charge it at work). It's a vastly underrated platform that eliminates a significant amount of fossil fuel consumption yet can go from Maine to California on gasoline alone at 30MPG. And, yes, much electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels, but that electricity does not need networks of Diesel burning trains and trucks to deliver it to brown field-creating gas stations throughout the country owned and operated and loitered at by skeezy people, you eliminate gas wasted from gas station pit stops, you reduce needless spending at gas stations grabbing an overpriced sugar water drink which also had to be shipped there on a diesel burning truck. The list goes on. I miss that car big time. If I was living at a house again where I could install a 240V charger, I'd get another one.

And I'd welcome a hybrid Mustang on a MUCH lighter chassis. The batteries can weight a bunch, okay, but this S550 is at least 200 lbs. too heavy. Especially for an engine not keen on low-end torque. Give me a little punch on the bottom end from a small electric motor, lighten the chassis significantly, save exceptional amounts of fuel, go faster. It doesn't matter, though - I won't buy another Ford for a long time, if ever.

My only concern - all these batteries... they call them "rare earth materials" for a reason.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'm a little worried that we're seeing a repeat of the '90s when Ford was ignoring their passenger cars in favor of trucks.

You don't suppose that these days it's SUVs and crossovers (plus the trucks) pushing cars into the background, do you?


Norm

 

[Anthony 05 GT]

To a point I think that's correct. The Mustang keeps on selling pretty well, so it's probably headed for the back burner for a while with minimal investment except for specialty models.

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