OK, I was at the dealer today for a oil change and a recall issue on my 2013. While waiting I had a chat with my salesman. I asked him about the 2015. He said he was up at the Dearborn test track testing the new Lincolns, and saw something different making laps. He seemed to think it was the new mustang, as it was under a cover. He continued to tell me that the 2014 production run will be abbreviated and will end in June 2013, with retooling to assemble the MY15 cars shortly there after. He seems to think order banks will open in November as usual. I asked him if he was positive about his statements and he gave an emphatic yes. Personally I am not sure how I would feel placing an order sight unseen.

In my opinion that may explain why the Dearborn plant is shutting down in June. The official story was they were going to pick up the slack on fusion production. I suspect sheet metal design is probably complete. Tooling is probably being made as we speak.

Anyway, take it for what it is worth.

 

It has always been my opinion that the 2015 would, as much as possible, fit into production seamlessly with the current schedule of 2014's as if the 2015 weren't a new model. Meaning orders are available this year for 2015's the same the time as the 2014's were last year.

As much as the April 17 date is symbolic, if I were Ford it would mean less to extend the reveal until that date when you can do it sooner and make preparations for the insane amount of orders I expect they will recieve. From my own personal "insider" he says he expects the 2015 to be significantly more attention and praise-receiving than even the S197, which in all honesty was freaking awesome. Of have a childhood friend that works for Ford, and my current boss is a former Ford executive. I have of course asked both of them to get me solid 2015 data and pics to no success, but my friend has seen the car many times. He loves it. He currently drives a black 2012 5.0, but said that he will be first in line to get a 2015, because he just has to have one as it is better in every way than his current car by a big margin.

 

Thanks for the info. Your "insider" info confirms my suspicion that the design is final and they are getting ready to stamp large quantities of steel. What my "source" said would make sense to me logically, as they would want to as much time as possible to get ready for the deluge of orders I am sure will come with the fresh design.

 

I actually heard this from my source too..

 

doubt it.
we really haven't seen much testing yet.

 

Yep, unless Ford now have an underground test track, there's no chance of seeing customer S550s on the road this year.

I don't doubt your salesman saw a mule/prototype on his visit, but the rest I find a little hard to believe.

Topnotch mentioned on another thread that the build team will shortly be shown S550, and the we should get the next round of spyshots in late June, early July.

I must admit, a very late reveal of the '15 (ie, some time around April 2014) does open up the question as to when order books will open. Will people be expected to order sight unseen? Can anyone remember what happened back in '04 before the S197 was launched? Did the order books open before or after the pre-production car was shown?

Otherwise, I'd expect the '14MY to actually be longer than we've become accustomed to. Unless Ford ramps up production very soon after an April 2014 introduction, the S197 may have to soldier on until early Summer 2014.

Your salesman may well just be using his gut instinct with how Ford have recently launched the new model years for the past 3 years or so, so I don't suspect he's not telling the truth.......it's just that he, along with the rest if us, can only assume what's going to happen.

Roll on those spyshots though!

 

The first batch of fully assembled prototypes are either just recently done or just about to be built, last good information I saw on that said "around June." So they're still early in the process of ironing out any issues with the car, too early to be at the stage of shutting down the current model. I'm sure they are trying to make the unveiling and on-sale date come together more than the 10-18 months gap of recent models, but the current Pony isn't quite retired yet.

 

Some old post said that the car that is built on January 1 is what defines a model year. If that is true, Ford really can't stop building 2014's before the calendar year 2014 has even started. There has to be some correlation between the model year and when the car is actually built, right?

I can picture Ford building prototypes (not just mules) for testing this June but I don't believe they will be building production 2015 models in 2013.

 

A manufacturer can sell a 2015 model anytime January 1st or after of 2014, the year preceding the model-year of the car being sold.

They can keep selling that 2015 model if they wanted to, for some time into 2016, which would make for a very long production run of one model-year

 

Take it with a grain of salt.

 

Thanks to Evil Capri for posting this elsewhere.......

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...-Fusion-summer

Later this summer, beginning the last week of June, Ford says it will idle the plant for one month — two weeks longer than the normal two-week summer shutdown — to prepare for production of the Fusion.
Fusion production at Flat Rock is slated to begin in late August, though that date has fluctuated, union officials have said. That means Fusion from Flat Rock, built during a second shift that will employ an additional 1,400 workers, would begin arriving at dealerships in late fall.

 

I need to make a trip to Flat Rock as soon as possible... camera in hand...

Deysha

 

And then get back here and post photos. Under an alias, of course

 

I need pics already!!

 

See, you just ratted me out, Twin Turbo.

I soooo wish I could be in Michigan right now... I can't wait to see the new 2015.

Deysha

 

OK, if you get an invite, give it to me. And I promise I won't post any photos here. Honestly

 

Lol!! That would be a great idea!

Deysha

 

Considering all the superb work you do for TMS Mustang customers, surely getting you an early viewing of S550 is the least Ford can do.

Who do we need to suggest this to?

 

That is a cool avatar. I hope the mustang comes out close to this. This is aggressive.

 

That's the EVOS.