Nearly 60 years and more than 10 million cars later, the Ford Mustang is gearing up for its seventh generation. The S650 will open its shutters today during a special Blue Oval event dubbed “The Stampede” at the start of NAIAS 2022 at Motor City. This is touted as an “all-new” car, so there should be a lot of changes to the outgoing model. Time will tell if this will be the ‘last Handlebar’ iteration with a combustion engine.
The Dearborn automaker may have given up on autos in the US where the sports car segment continues to shrink, but the Mustang remains. The teaser has suggested the global debut will focus around the GT with its 5.0-liter V8, but logic tells us there will be another entry-level model with an EcoBoost engine. Ford has promised to play its part in saving manuals by selling coupes with stick shifts alongside automatic transmissions to please both worlds.
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A recent report claims Ford has given up on the idea of introducing an all-wheel-drive version. Additionally, the hybrid powertrain appears to have been phased out as well, meaning the revamped model will stick to the traditional RWD formula with a gasoline-only engine. Hopefully, engineers have found a way to make the engine cleaner and more efficient to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations around the world, especially in European Union countries.
Spy shots have suggested the exterior styling will be an evolution but we expect a revolution on the inside. The 2024 Mustang is likely the next Ford product to get the SYNC4 infotainment, which will completely revamp the dashboard. When automakers decide to cram in a bigger screen, they usually omit most of the physical buttons. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case with the new pony car.
The next generation Mustang will be available for 2024MY, so it will probably go on sale at some point next year. Auto line reported some time ago that the all-electric model is scheduled to enter production in December 2028, which will coincide with the death of the ICE model. That would give the S650 roughly six years of shelf life, but Ford hasn’t confirmed those rumors yet, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, the sports car will appear in Detroit along with the Mach-E electric SUV. In addition, Ford is also carrying the F-150 Lightning and Raptor R, the Bronco and Bronco Sport, the Maverick, and several Lincoln models, including the recently revealed 2023 Corsair.
