Depending on CAFE is affected over the next few years, the current Mustang will be production till early 2030 or so and I think post 2032 or so it will finally move to an EV platform.    The next 10 years or so are going to be a shit show for most auto makers because of the changes in policy and pull back from EVs

Tires make a huge difference!  Back in the day I ordered a 2004 F250 4X4. I did not get the off road package. It came with Pirelli Scorpion All season tires. First Winter came, and the thing got stuck in my driveway! Did not waste any time and put All Terrain tires on, and no more getting stuck in the snow!!! 

When I was 5 years old I remember seeing Mustangs on the rail cars as we went up the overpass near the Rouge Plant.  When I turned 6 my father and I built a plastic model (red convertible) of a Mustang.  My fist car was a motorcycle, but then bought a 1966 Mustang for when it rained already 13 years old (bondo-stang).  Not a winter car, gotta admit snow tires were not in my college student budget.   My brother sold his Mustang last year after owning it for about six years, he bought it new.  His wife hated to sit in it (too low), and did not like putting grandchildren in the back seat.  He drove another car (SUV full sized) in the winter.  We talked about it, and had the Mustang had AWD and four doors, it would be his year around work car and not a turd brown EcoSport.   So, if the 2-door Mustang gets a 4-door sibling, AWD and a slightly higher seating position would help older folks get in and out.    Guy I work with chose his current vehicle based on ease of getting in and out of pretty much exclusively.    Older people (+50), and people with extended families still wanting a Mustang should have an opportunity to do so in my opinion.  The security of AWD and fuel economy of a hybrid wouldn't hurt either.   EDIT: When I was a boy the thing I liked about cars was the styling, and the Mustang made me stand up in the back seat of my parents car to get a better look at it on the overpass.  The Mach 4 should have the same affect on anyone, at any age - go for it as if it's the last car you will ever make.   EDIT-2: Another market that could expand with a 4-door (put the bad guys in the back seat).   https://fordauthority.com/2025/02/nc-highway-patrol-ford-mustang-cruisers-officially-roll-out/    

Thanks, I vaguely recall they were made in Turkey.   Ford settles US tariff dodging allegations for $365M The fine ends a long-running allegation that the automaker skirted a 25% ‘chicken tax’ on cargo vans assembled in Turkey. Published March 12, 2024 https://www.automotivedive.com/news/ford-chicken-tax-fine-justice-department-tariffs-cargo-vans/709965/   I don't think the roof hump is awful, it's just not convincing me it's a Land Rover (haha).   EDIT:  Second generation Bronco had a tiny roof hump?  Looking for historic president. https://www.broncocorral.com/articles/history-of-the-ford-bronco-1966-1996/

Thanks for the concise rundown.   The Transit Connect was by far the best looking in the class.   Looked up the NV200 problems, yikes, what a train wreck.

Perhaps I see a different pattern evolving.    

It all comes down to how many they want to sell.  CAFE may dictate slightly higher volumes.

When I looked up other performance sedans, there wasn’t much out there besides top trims. I don’t think I could name one that isn’t a top trim. We’ve already seen articles where ford was benchmarking the Cadillac black wing, so that is who ford thinks the competition is. Now, they could come in drastically lower in price with a base model, but that’s a tough sell to shell out $45k on a sedan and not get all the bells and whistles. Especially with accord and Camry starting at 28k and fully loaded models are less than $40k. My guess is that ford won’t offer a base trim. I’m thinking the equivalent of the mustang coupe premium trim will be the lowest they go, but still offer both engines. With ford wanting to maximize profits and seeing what the competition is charging, I still don’t see this starting less than $50k. Hope I’m wrong!

What happened with that one?  😂😱😉

It's very simple... Sales of coupe are headed to zero eventually but Ford needs to keep Mustang around because it is a sacred cow. These are the problems: CAFE compliance for the Mustang nameplate is impossible without longer wheelbase Flat Rock can only produce low profile vehicles Can't move Mustang production elsewhere because not enough volume to justify new tooling/production site Ford needs the Mustang name to be around because it is one of Farley's icons, along with Transit, F-Series, and Bronco. It is a lot more important to Ford than Camaro is to Chevy (for example) So the obvious solution is the make a longer wheelbase Mustang (for CAFE) and build it in Flat Rock (because you have to keep the plant open).   How do you make a longer wheelbase Mustang? You make it a sedan. This is the only way the 2 door S650 lives beyond 2026 - as an alternate body style of the volume 4 door sedan.   Ford will need to flip the volume of Mustang to favor sedans and minimizes the CAFE penalty by controlling the number of coupe and convertible it will sell. You already see the early part of this plan to move the Mustang coupe upmarket with GTD and more special editions - this is how Ford will control volume on the CAFE killing coupe. Ford will keep reducing the availability of coupe but they need the sedan to provide the volume to keep the plant operating at minimal viable level.    With only minimal plant investment, I think Ford can make the 4 door Mustang breakeven relatively easily. They didn't do it before because they didn't need to. But now they do... otherwise they cannot afford to keep the Mustang coupe around.