'What the customer wants right now is a manual transmission': Ford commits to manual and V8s for 2025 Mustang and beyond despite rivals like Dodge and BMW pulling back

With the launch of the seventh-generation 2025 Ford Mustang in Australia, the brand promised it is committed to two things enthusiasts love: V8 engines and manual transmissions. 

“We’re constantly looking at what our customers want… What the customer wants right now is a manual transmission. The pure enthusiast wants a manual transmission,” Mustang Chief Program Engineer Laurie Transou told CarsGuide, 

“We’ll continue to offer it as long as our customers are desiring a manual transmission,” Transou added, despite fewer carmakers offering such an option. 

Ford’s local Product Communications Manager Ben Nightingale shed light on the local situation, confirming 30 per cent 5.0-litre GT buyers have opted for manual and half of Dark Horse owners chose the shift-your-self transmission. 

“There’s very much a market for it here in Australia and we’ll continue to offer it as long as we can,” said Nightingale. 

There is a little pain for manual Mustang enthusiasts in Australia, though, with the six-speed being dropped from the entry-level 2.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder EcoBoost. It is now exclusively a 10-speed automatic proposition. 

But in a time when muscle car rivals like Dodge are moving away from combustion engines entirely and alternatives like BMW are switching rapidly to plug-in hybrid, the naturally-aspired six-speed manual Mustang is rarer than ever.

Ford also discussed possible power increases down the track for both the 5.0-litre ‘Coyote’ V8 and the four-cylinder models.

In Australia, V8 Mustangs develop lower outputs than in the United States, with the Dark Horse especially hamstrung at 350kW and 550Nm here against 373kW in the US.

The Dark Horse’s V8 still has different, stronger forged connecting rods and reinforced camshafts but there are some limitations in this market.

It comes down to a combination of factors, says Ford, with different extractor configuration for right-hand drive car and emissions standards both affecting power.

In response, Transou said: “We’re Always looking at delivering more power for every region around the world.

“One of the hallmarks of Mustang is every generation delivers more power and more performance than outgoing. So, we’re constantly looking, not just at the US but everywhere around the world. And the Australian market is a very big market for the Mustang.” 

The previous generation Mustang produced myriad special editions including the Mach 1 — which lends its Tremec six-speed manual to the Dark Horse — and Australian-specific supercharged R-Spec that took the best bits of the US-market GT350 and GT500.

The new car is designed with a broader appeal in mind, both in terms of customer type and market penetration. According to Mustang Brand Manager Joe Bellino, the Mustang Dark Horse has already found more diverse, track-loving buyers.

“We are trying to skew younger with Mustang, a little more diverse — more female. We’re seeing Dark Horse is bringing in a new buyer for us. Someone who may not have considered Mustang in the past is now considering Mustang,” explains Bellino. 

“We are skewing younger but we’re still taking care of our traditional Mustang buyer. That’s where Mustang is doing a really good job right now, bringing in a new audience but also catering to our core enthusiast who may have bought a mustang for the last 60 years or so.”

Special edition Mustangs are already proving successful (in the sold-out Dark Horse’s case) so it’s hard not to imagine more powerful, more focused versions arriving in the future, though CarsGuide understands there will not be a repeat of the local R-Spec program. 

2025 Ford Mustang Pricing

Variant	Price
EcoBoost 2.3L 10AT	$66,990
GT Fastback 6MT	$79,990
GT Fastback 10AT	$81,990
GT Convertible 10AT	$87,667

All prices are before on-road costs