Rumors of a four-door Ford Mustang or Mustang sedan have been swirling for the better part of a decade, but so far, nothing has really come from it outside of a handful of independent renderings for fun and ongoing conjecture. New word straight from Ford CEO, Jim Farley, however, indicates that such a vehicle could very well happen, and it might happen a lot sooner than you think. In fact, if a Mustang sedan does happen, it’s going to happen long before an all-electric Mustang coupe ever sees the production line.

Ford Doesn’t Want To Dilute The Mustang Name, But It Must Grow

In an interview with Autocar, Jim Farley spoke on various aspects of the Mustang and what the future holds, even saying that it is “by far” the world’s best-selling coupe, as he made a nod to the global cult-like following the muscle car has earned itself over the years. What was more important, however, was that he spoke specifically on the growth of the Mustang name and what the future holds.

“We will never build a Mustang that isn’t a Mustang. But could we do other Mustang body forms – a four-door or whatever? I believe we could, as long as these models have all the performance and attitude of the original.”

It’s clear that Ford sees potential in the future for the Mustang and even intends to spread the name across various niches of the market to cater to both traditional buyers and those that want something a little different. He even mentioned how Porsche has done well in catering to upmarket and specialty buyers with the 911 GT3 RS and GT3 RS models, for example. But are we looking at more than just a Mustang sedan?

There Are Limits To What Ford Will Do With The Mustang Name

To be quite honest, I’m getting the vibe that the Mustang Mach-E is about as far off course as things will get. Farley spoke about certain people thinking the Mustang could be mixed with other, largely unrelated niches like off-roading in a move similar to what Lamborghini did with the Sterrato and Porsche with the 911 Dakar.

“Some people think we could mix Mustang with off-road driving – look at what Porsche has done with the 911 Dakar, and what Lamborghini has been doing. But I’m not so sure about that.”

At one point, Farley even alluded to there never being a two-row SUV with a Mustang badge slapped on it, despite the Mustang Mach-E’s existence. More importantly, he says the brand “will never make an all-electric Mustang,” claiming that the V-8 and manual transmission will live on as long as possible. This can happen despite emissions regulations because of the brand’s ambitious EV goals that will offset the production of fuel-drinking V-8s.

The Future Of The Mustang And What Happens Next

There’s no denying that the Mustang has been a huge success for Ford, and it has the momentum to keep being a winner for decades to come if it’s handled the right way. It looks like the winning move will be hybridization, which is – ironically – the next step for other automotive icons like the Porsche 911.

"I look at other users of pure-electric power such as Formula E, and even companies like Rimac, and I just don’t think that would be right for Mustang”

But that’s okay, because between the support of Ford’s EV range to offset its company-wide emissions and the way hybridization can be used to drastically increase performance, the Mustang can still live a very strong life. Farley even said he’d fight to keep the Ford’s iconic V-8 engines and manual transmissions in production as long as legally possible.

So, while a Mustang sedan hasn’t exactly been confirmed, it is officially something that Ford isn’t saying no to, and that’s a very big deal. As for what other derivatives of the Mustang we’ll see in the future, that’s a big mystery, but Farley believes that there has to be a balance so that the Mustang name isn’t diluted.

We’ll most likely be looking at other high-performance models, similar in essence to what Dodge did with the Charger and Challenger, eventually releasing the Hellcat, Demon, and other high-performance models. In fact, you can probably count on that as Farley said the 800-horsepower Mustang GTD was a “down payment” on performance Mustangs of the future and that Ford “won’t stop with the GTD.”

Regardless of what side of the fence you stand on in regard to the Mustang Mach-E or a four-door Mustang, one thing is very clear – Ford isn’t done with the Mustang yet, and things are going to get very interesting as the car evolves.

Source: Autocar