For years, rumors have existed about Ford mulling over the possibility of a Mustang sedan. Considering that a Mustang GT now costs $48,850 before options, and that young people don’t commonly have $50,000 to drop on a new car, a more practical variant for Mustang fans with kids who can justify a $50,000 daily driver but not a $50,000 weekend car would make a whole lot of sense. While this direction still hasn’t been confirmed, a recent trademark application is pouring fuel on the fire.
This week, Ford Authority discovered that Ford has filed an application to trademark the name “Mach 4.” As the outlet reports, “Filed on February 25th, 2025, under serial number 99055118, this application contain the goods and services description of “Motor vehicles, namely gasoline and electric automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and their structural parts.””
That seems especially interesting considering Automotive News reported that dealers were shown a rendering of a four-door Mustang called the Mach 4 last August, in the same meeting where they were shown the now-confirmed Ford-sanctioned pre-built Mustang RTR. If one thing from that alleged meeting is very much real, who’s to say more things aren’t?
Adding fuel to the four-door fire is the categorization of the trademark application. See, it applies to vehicles and their structual parts, and considering the only sensible alternative use for the Mach 4 name would be for all-wheel-drive, it doesn’t seem like the trademark would necessarily apply to powertrain systems. While an all-wheel-drive Mustang coupe would be cool for those in snowy climates, it doesn’t seem to be on the table here.
In this context, it’s also worth noting that a 2023 agreement formed with United Auto Workers included the promise of a $50 million investment in Flat Rock, the plant that makes the Mustang coupe and convertible. More importantly, this promise came with the detail that a new product would join the floors of Flat Rock “pending program approval”. Now, sinking $50 million into a plant isn’t a lot for an all-new model, but considering that Mustang sheetmetal is actually stamped down the highway, it might go further than you might expect.
In a way, if the dream of a Mustang sedan comes to fruition, that would be as close as we could get to a modern day Ford Falcon. Sure, considering the original Mustang was based on the Falcon, the lineage would be a bit reversed, but many of us would love the possibility of a semi-affordable V8 rear-wheel-drive sedan with a stick-shift. While this idea might’ve been sacrilegious fifteen years ago, the sales success of the Mach-E crossover may have opened the door to other Mustang variants. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, won’t we?
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
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Mach No!
Just call it a Falcon. It’s a fucking Falcon.
I have to imagine this is an electric sedan? Maybe just the Mach E in a sedan body? That seems like lowest development cost option?
Would be curious how many would buy an ICE sedan now without AWD unless it’s Hellcat-level fast. The CT4V and IS500 are decidedly niche, and that’s with a theoretical luxury sedan wrapped around the go-fast bits. If the RWD/V8/stick formula gets applied to a non-luxury sedan, I doubt it will have enough takers to justify the development expenses. How well did the Charger sell at the end of it’s run outside police fleets (and that’s with an A/T)? The business case seems suspect even if the enthusiast idea sounds great.
This bird has flown the coop, but I always wanted Ford to just put the Coyote V8 in the old Fusion/MKZ platform and uprate the suspension. Not to the point of going toe-to-toe with an M3, but a powerful grand tourer with a decent interior and throaty exhaust that didn’t wallow in the corners. A less expensive old school E63, if you will. I guess Bob Lutz tried that sort of thing ~25 years ago and didn’t get very far.
A Mustang-based V8 RWD sports sedan is a fun idea.
Mustang as a sub-brand kind of sucks.
“Mach” as the word that distinguishes different Mustang models within the Mustang sub-brand all the way sucks.
I don’t care at all what a Mach 4 looks like, but are we not going to talk about how we have to have one in order to get to its replacement, the…
Go, Speed Racer, Go!
Personally I’d like to see Ford use the Thunderbird name on a 4 door variant of the Mustang.
Seems like an odd take when the Thunderbird was a coupe. A 4 door Mustang was historically a Falcon.
Yeah but the Mustang back then was a much lower end vehicle than the Mustang of today. Arguably the current Mustang is where the Thunderbird used to be in terms of pricing and status.
5th generation Ford Thunderbird was offered as a 4-door.
Yes, 1 generation had suicide doors. The other 10 generations were 2 door coupes.
I’m surprised they never made a sedan on the modern post-Fox Mustang platforms. They have made sedans out of Mustangs (and vice versa) in the past.
Bring back the Falcon 😀
Australia knew it best! Just do this!
https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/HIRES-image120275_c.jpg
Geez Ford. Knock if off with the mock Mustangs already. It’s getting old.
Seems like a perfect opportunity to bring back the “Mustang Grande”.
I think there are still some LS bones in the current Mustang so not too crazy an idea.
Mach 4 might also be a clever rebranding for the 4 cylinder Mustang.
As others have mentioned, if you’re gonna add doors, please kick out the roof line and give us a sport wagon. Call it the Mustang Ranch (or Squire if you glue some paneling on the sides). Or better yet, throw a bed on it and call it the Mustang Ranchero.
I think the Mustang Ranch would only be legal in Nevada.
The best laid plans…
I’m guessing that this would be something that shares styling cues and badges with the Mustang, but on a separate platform. The Mach-E’s architecture could probably be lowered into something similar to the North American Toyota Crown. Beyond that, this seems like a very odd time for Ford to suddenly see the light for sedans. They’ve lost most of their market share to crossovers and Ford abandoned the whole segment for that reason.
Ford, I love ya, but stop abusing the Mach moniker! Would it be so wrong to call it the Mustang 4, or even something like the Mustang Palomino??
I vote for the Mustang Ranch.
If it were not for the other connotations, I’m certain they’d absolutely use that for the inevitable Mustang style truck.
Call it the Thunderbird and leave ‘Mustang’ out of it.
I dunno. Just calling it the “Mustang 4” feels like it’s associated with the Mustang II…
Mustang IV
Ford is bound and determined to spend all of that Mustang brand equity. Of course, the thing about equity is it takes a long time to build up, and no time at all to be gone.
I mean, between the Reader’s Rides and reviews of the Mustang Mach-E, I don’t think they’re “spending” the equity at all.
The Mustang’s all they got left for sedans and sedan-adjacent vehicles, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t use the name. It’s not like people are holding their breath for a new generation of Taurus or Focus or something.
Considering sales of Mustang coupes are fading away to nothing they need something to use the name on.
1966 – 607K
2024 – 47K
If they did it with suicide back doors like the old extended cab pickups or the Saturns. It might be ok. I guess they are throwing tradition away. Something about it seems very European or like they had with the focus 2 door 2 door sport 4 door and wagon.