Why it took 50 years for the Ford Mustang to become an overnight success in Australia
Joshua Dowling, National Motoring Editor, News Corp Australia Network
September 15, 2017 10:00pm
WHEN the iconic Mustang muscle car went on sale in Australia in late 2015, Ford thought it might sell 1000 a year.
Imagine Ford’s surprise when it took 4000 orders in the first few months. Even jacking up the price didn’t put a dent on demand.
This year Ford is on track to sell almost 10,000 Mustangs — a staggering 10 times more than what it originally forecast.
The Mustang has become a sales sensation Down Under as Aussie Ford fans fill the gap left by the much loved local hero, the Falcon, which went out of production last October when Ford closed its factory doors after 91 years.
Sales of the Mustang have even exceeded Ford’s expectations.
The Mustang waiting list initially stretched beyond 12 months.
The Ford factory in Michigan couldn’t produce more Mustangs for Australia overnight because there are 104 individual parts unique to right-hand-drive versions sold in Australia.
Ford had to contact the suppliers of those 104 parts and dramatically increase the order for right-hand-drive parts, which took months to ramp up.
Fast forward to today and there are healthy supplies of Mustang in Australia.
The Mustang has just notched up its 20th month in a row as Australia’s top selling sports car.
So far this year the Mustang has sewn up 50 per cent of the sports car market locally; 18 other models such as the Toyota 86 coupe and Mazda MX-5 convertible fight over the remaining 50 per cent.
So why is an impractical two-door coupe powered by a thirsty V8 in such hot demand? Sports car sales usually start strong and then hit the brakes.
The Mustang has done the opposite because Australia was ripe for it.
The average age of new-car buyers is 51 years, and people in that bracket grew up watching Mustangs on TV shows and in movies, such as Steve McQueen’s 1968 hit, Bullitt.
Mustang buyers are also at an age when they’re coming into money or have put a dent on their mortgage, and have a bit of cash to treat themselves.
The other contributing factor: the end of local production of the Ford Falcon and its V8 derivatives.
When the Mustang was confirmed for Australia, Ford was adamant it was not a replacement for the Falcon. But it turns out that’s exactly what has happened.
The Ford Mondeo sedan and wagon from Europe have technically filled the void left by Falcon. But their sales are modest compared to Falcon in its glory days because buyers have shifted to small cars, SUVs and utes.
Ford, despite spending millions of dollars over the past three years trying to soften its image to focus on women and technology, the very blokey Mustang is now the second biggest selling Ford locally — after the very blokey Ranger ute (which accounts for more than half of all Ford sales locally so far this year).
Mustang sales are now higher than the Falcon’s were in its final years.
The cover of the 1965 Ford Mustang brochure. Picture: Supplied.
The four cylinder coupe can be had for $50,000 drive-away, the V8 coupe manual $60,000 and the V8 auto convertible tops out at about $70,000.
And while the price point hasn’t come down much, dealers are being less greedy with their margin because there is now plenty of stock available, so they aren’t able to hold customers to ransom any more.
But you could probably negotiate a couple of grand off this with some haggling IF a dealer is caught with one and wants to let it go.
There’s one other prediction Ford got wrong: demand for V8s.
In case you missed it, the new Mustang is also available with a four-cylinder engine.
Some might call it sacrilege but Ford calls it smart planning, given the uncertainty around petrol prices and the possibility of stricter emissions standards in future. The four-cylinder also happens to be nice to drive, if a little quiet.
When the Mustang launched locally two years ago Ford forecast four-cylinder Mustangs would eventually account for more than 50 per cent of sales.
So far fewer than 10 per cent of Mustangs sold in Australia are the four-cylinder variety, and even then that’s only because they’ve been forced into the dealer network — or bought by people who wanted to jump the queue for a V8.
Ingeniously, the only way to distinguish the V8 from the four-cylinder Mustang is a badge on each front fender. Both have the same large exhaust pipes, but only one car makes the right noise.
The ‘5.0’ badges on the front fenders are the only giveaway it’s a V8. Picture: Supplied.
Why did it take so long for the Mustang to arrive, even after countless letters over the decades from Ford fanatics in Australia to head office in Detroit?
Despite the Mustang’s popularity here, it only represents about 5 per cent of global production — but it costs just as much to engineer a right-hand-drive version as it does a left-hand-drive.
It’s difficult to recoup development costs from such small right-hand-drive volumes.
For decades the Mustang kept getting pushed down the list of priorities until someone at Ford realised it was the company’s only car with global recognition. There are more Mustang car clubs outside the US than inside its borders.
Ford finally decided to take a hit on development costs and build a Mustang for the world. This is the first time in the Mustang’s history Ford has built its iconic muscle car in right-hand-drive on a US production line. Earlier models imported in the 1960s and early 2000s were converted locally.
More than 90 per cent of Mustangs sold locally are the V8; the remaining 10 per cent is the four-cylinder version. Picture: Supplied.
So far, the right-hand-drive gamble has paid dividends. Which is why the Mustang chief engineer, Carl Widmann, was sent to Australia from Detroit soon after the Mustang launched locally — to talk to owners and find out what the fuss was all about.
After a long line of Mustang owners took turns to poke him the chest — figuratively speaking — it’s fair to say he now regards Australia as the biggest market for Mustang globally, after the US and ahead of Europe.
“The interest in this market has really surprised us … and we need to understand it better,” Widmann said at the time. “Australian customers are very passionate, they really love their cars. Australia certainly has our attention now.”
CL Champs 2019 for the 6th time
Originally Posted by phillyc
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