One of the few automakers that reports monthly sales is Ford, though the practice is something the company may regret after a kinda miserable May. That it was an off month nationally isn’t a huge surprise given some of the moves Ford has made, as well as just plain bad timing. There is something a little deeper going on, and the solution is obvious to me.
Yes, The Morning Dump is advocating for the possibly imaginary Mustang Mach IV sedan this morning. It just makes sense, and I’m going to prove it to you by showing the big hole in the Ford lineup where a Mustang Sedan would fit. I’m not alone in this! Ford leadership has sort of hinted this is maybe on the way. While Stellantis has been using AI to show its ass, GM’s Mary Barra told NBC News that the company is using it to do more without letting people go.
I don’t know if I buy that, but I do know that if I lived in Europe I’d be tempted to purchase the new Škoda seven-passenger EV.
Ford Can’t Escape A Bad May
I’m going slowly today after a great night of sports, featuring both the Knicks forcing their way to a victory and the Astros hanging half a dozen runs on the Pirates with two outs in the bottom of the 8th to erase a four-run deficit. I also won my pickup game of ultimate frisbee, but I’m not Ice Cube, so I’m not gonna brag about how I performed in a pickup game.
Unlike Ice Cube, Ford didn’t score a triple-double or anything else in May, with self-reported sales down 13.6%. Even with employee pricing being offered, the blue oval brand is on its back foot to start the year. While it’s not a huge number of vehicles, Ford was still taking advantage of the tax credit last year and so there’s been a 43.9% drop in EV sales (this isn’t bad news since Ford last money on every one). Ford isn’t getting the F-150 back to full production until probably September, so that negative 13% swing is enough to account for a third of the lost sales.
Also significant is the loss of the Ford Escape, which was the easily approachable vehicle at the affordable end of the range. Is the Ford Bronco Sport a reasonable replacement? Given that sales are down this year, I’m guessing not. The Ford Explorer is up this year, but that might also be picking up customers from the departed Ford Edge. The newish Ford Expedition also saw a drop in sales, which makes sense given the high gas prices.
What Ford is doing right is the Maverick, which is now the most affordable Ford product and also comes in hybrid form. In fact, The Detroit News reports that the Maverick Hybrid had its best month ever. The Bronco also remains strong.
When gas prices are up, it is logical that bigger vehicles might suffer. When the economy is shaky, affordability is important. What Ford is lacking at the moment is something that’s affordable-ish and efficient and not a truck. That’s probably a sedan. Ford doesn’t have a sedan. Personally, I think Ford should import a European platform and make it the Escort, but that’s just me. There’s another more likely alternative and that’s using the Mustang platform to build the long-rumored Mach IV sedan. I’m not alone in thinking this.
‘It’s Going To Have To Make Sense Within A Family We May Already Offer’
Ok Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Model e, I know what you’re doing. I see you. I think I understand it. He spoke to Automotive News and reporter Michael Martinez asked the right question:
Jim Farley has hinted you might bring back sedans. Why might that body style make sense now?
There is a percentage of the customer base that still buys sedans. It’s a lot smaller than it once was. It used to be 50 percent, now it’s 16, 17 percent. We have a really great Mustang that people consider a car. We look to expand on the Mustang family as we move forward. I think, for us to do it, it’s going to have to make sense within our portfolio. It’s going to have to make sense within a family that we may already offer. And it’s going to have to be very cost-effective for us to do it. That’s what we’re focused on in general with a lot of our new affordable products. We want the concepts to be right and the costs to be even better.
The important line there is “It’s going to have to make sense within a family that we may already offer.” The Mustang’s platform only supports the Mustang and nothing else. Ford already made an EV crossover and called it a Mustang and no one died. Dodge does it, why not Ford?
GM Will Use AI But Won’t Lay People Off Because Of It, Maybe
I got an email from NBC News saying that Mary Barra was going to be on Nightly News last night. I can’t find the segment online, but that doesn’t mean anything. I assume they didn’t bump the CEO of GM, and I have some of the transcript:
CEO of General Motors Mary Barra tells NBC News’ Christine Romans that AI is moving car design into the fast lane, explaining that it allows the company to ”explore more concepts, more ideas to make sure we get the right one.”
Asked whether AI will allow GM to make cars with fewer people, Barra responded “I think it’s how we give the tools to the people to be able to do better work. To me it’s how do we do more with the people that we have, because we’re using AI tools.”
Talking to designers, there’s some flexibility to being able to use digital imaging (and AI) to quickly form up some ideas. That’s fine. I do wonder how this squares with GM laying off hundreds of people as it “transforms” it’s IT department.
Will The Skoda Peaq Be The Last MEB Model?
The fact that the new flagship, seven-seater EV from Škoda will be called the Peaq and probably be awesome is not something that’s necessarily relevant to all of our audience. I love the brand, though, so I’m going to write about it. The look of this is what the company calls “Tech-Deck Face,” which is amusing to me.
What you might care about is that this is maybe the last new car to be built on the Volkswagen MEB platform that’s underpinned everything from the ID.4 to the ID.7 and ID.Buzz. It was the first big swing EV attempt from Volkswagen and not exactly successful, so maybe it deserves a swan song from the company’s best brand.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Doja Cat got mad at the loss of some feature on X/Twitter, and roasted Tesla CEO Elon Musk with the incredible nonsense burn “u look like u eat sand.’ In honor of that burn, please enjoy Doja’s “AAAHH MEN!” which uses the Knight Rider theme to achieve something kinda sublime.
The Big Question
What should the Mustang sedan be?
Top graphic base image: Thomas Hundal
Make a four-door mustang. Call it either the falcon or the Grand Thunderbird make it a direct competitor to the four-door charger wide body and then make a Lincoln performance version like a blackwing
As an enjoyer of performance sedans, a four-door Mustang would be great.
Down here in Australia I suspect it’d sell better as a Falcon, given the marque’s long history with the locally-produced Falcon which ended in the mid-2010s. Having said that, the foreign-built Commodore went down like a lead balloon when it came out to replace the locally-built version, so maybe it would be better to leave the nameplate buried.
Okay, Ford execs who obviously lurk on an automotive site about ham bumpers, here’s my pitch:
Maverick ST-V.
The response to the Mav Lobo shows that there is a strong market for buyers who find cuvs too soft and suvs too fat, but still want a vehicle with presence, style and versatility.
What I’m suggesting is a new breed of CUV, a Lobo-ized CUV, a street utility vehicle, if you will.
We take the Bronco Sport, pull off the plastic, drop it a few inches, and put on some Lobo-styled trim. We keep the BS’s style options; appearance packages, limited editions, and so on. Three basic trim levels – an economy hybrid hits the ‘economical but exciting’ nice, an ecoboost fwd option, and a performance-styled awd hybrid at the top end.
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Ok, now nobody tell them it’s a wagon. Shh.
Bring it but don’t call it a Mustang… perfect time for a new Falcon or Galaxie. Also, 4 door Coyote with 3 pedals, I’m in!
Why don’t they just call it the coyote?
Add in a Lobo trim to seal the deal.
I’ll be honest, it would make more sense for Ford to bring back the Focus (hatchback and sedan versions) than to build a Mustang Sedan. It would be more affordable, and a hybrid version would sell like hot cakes. It would also open the door for different styling cues, not tied to the Mustang look (good as it is) that’s shackled to a 60 year old look.
But Ford of Europe stopped building the Focus last year, so perhaps Ford US lost the opportunity.
I really don’t see the point of a four door Mustang – other than to compete with the Challenger in the “my oversized V8 car has more horsepower than yours” sweepstakes. Which would not make me any more likely to want to buy one.
Whatever. Just let Jony Ive design it.
How about an all-electric crossover SUV? Oh, wait…
Seriously, though, a 4-door Mustang might make sense, as long as it is not called a Mustang. Sales would not be spectacular, though, since the market for paying extra insurance premiums and doing burnouts with a family sedan is pretty small.