Ford Mustang a step closer to Australian showrooms

Ford starts testing of right-hand-drive versions of the Mustang in Detroit.

Ford has started testing right-hand-drive versions of the Mustang muscle car ahead of its arrival in Australian showrooms next year, priced from about $50,000.
 
Ford has never made a right-hand-drive Mustang on a production line before. Mustangs sold in Australia in the 1960s and early 2000s were built in left-hand drive in the US and then converted locally.
 
After declaring for half a century it was too expensive to engineer a right-hand-drive Mustang -- especially given that left-hand-drive new cars can be legally registered in other key right-hand-drive markets, the UK and Japan -- Ford is boldly going global with the new model.

Ford has sold more than 9.2 million Mustangs since the first one was built in 1964

The Mustang will be sold in 125 countries next year, including 25 right-hand-drive markets such as Australia, Japan, and the UK.
 
"The Mustang is the heart and soul of the company and part of American culture," says Nair. "Of all our models, it's top of the list for brand perception and recognition."
 
The Mustang has 7.6 million Facebook fans at last count (August 2014), making it the most "liked" car on the social media site, Ford claims.
 
The Mustang has also appeared in more than 3000 movies, including James Bond's Goldfinger (1964), Steve McQueen's Bullitt (1968), and Gone in 60 Seconds (2000).
 
Of the 400 Mustang clubs globally, more than half of them are outside North America.
 
Ford has sold more than 9.2 million Mustangs since the first one was built in 1964, but only 161,000 were sold outside North America.
 
The Ford Mustang will arrive in Australia as the Falcon nears the end of the Broadmeadows production line.
 
However, at the preview of the new Ford Mustang in Detroit last year, executives insisted the Mustang was not intended to replace the Falcon as Ford's hero car.
 
"The Mustang is not intended to replace Falcon, it's bringing the Mustang back to Australia," said Raj Nair, the Ford group vice president, global product development.
 
Meanwhile, Australians struggling to understand the merit of a four-cylinder Falcon will need to get their head around the idea of a four-cylinder Mustang: it will be available with four-cylinder or V8 power.
 
Indeed, Ford's latest four-cylinder turbo engine has more grunt than many V8s (227kW). It will also be much more fuel-efficient.
 
Ford made four-cylinder Mustangs from 1978 to 1993 but they were discontinued because the technology wasn't as advanced then as it is today.
 
The V8 version -- which will come standard with a "burnout" button -- will likely be the most popular choice (Australia misses out on the US-only V6); the option of a four-cylinder engine is intended to broaden the Mustang's appeal, especially in Europe as the Mustang goes global for the first time.
 
FAST FACTS
 
The Mustang is one of the few cars in the world to clock up 50 years of continuous production. The other is the Ford Falcon (to be retired in 2016 after 56 years), the Volkswagen Kombi (retired after 56 years, 1957 to 2013), the Volkswagen Beetle (retired after 65 years, 1938 to 2003), the Chevrolet Suburban SUV (79 years and counting, since 1938), the Ford F-Series pick-up (66 years and counting, since 1948), and the Toyota LandCruiser 4WD (60 years and counting, since 1954), and the Porsche 911 Carrera sports-car (51 years and counting, since 1963) to name a few.