Statements from a Ford executive indicate the next Ford Mustang be a RWD/AWD unibody.
Without Ford, there is no Mustang. Just as an untraditional vehicle (the Cayenne) helped financially bolster Porsche, an unusual change to the Mustang’s platform could greatly benefit its parent company as a whole and, ultimately, the future of the car itself.
To become more efficient and take full advantage of current consumer trends, Ford is going to focus only on the types of vehicles that sell well, which it plans to do in the near future by ceasing production of passenger cars (except the Mustang) and manufacturing more crossovers, SUVs, and trucks.
Controlling costs are also important to the blue oval’s (and the Mustang’s) longevity. According to Automotive News, former Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s One Ford plan had the brand’s vehicles around the world use common parts, reduced costs, and decreased the number of global architectures from 30 to nine.
However, the automaker needs to cut $25.5 billion in costs over the next five years. One way of doing that is by slashing its total worldwide platform count even further to just five. As Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s head of product development and purchasing, recently said during the 2018 J.P. Morgan Auto Conference, as much as 70 percent of a vehicle’s value can be controlled by using a modular platform system.
According to The Drive, “The platforms will be designated as follows: rear-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive body-on-frame, front-wheel-drive/AWD unibody, RWD/AWD unibody, commercial van unibody, and a separate unibody platform for electric and electrified vehicles.”
That’s five, alright. By process of elimination, it’s clear which platform the next-generation Mustang will use: RWD/AWD unibody. We don’t expect Ford to offer an all-wheel-drive Ford Mustang (unless it wants to take some of the Dodge Challenger GT AWD’s market share), so that means the next-gen Mustang will likely share a platform with a future Ford crossover or two…or three. Given that the next Explorer and the next Lincoln Aviator are going to RWD, it seems as if they could end up being platform cousins of the Ford Mustang.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
