Post date: Dec 05, 2013 6:42:5 PM
Ford unveiled its next-generation 2015 Mustang at an exhibition in Shanghai, China.
SHANGHAI, CHINA (DECEMBER 5, 2013) (REUTERS) - Ford Motor unveiled its next-generation 2015 Mustang in Shanghai on Thursday (December 5), in the first complete overhaul of the car since 2005.
The new Mustang, which marks its 50th anniversary next spring, has a more modern design, a more nimble chassis and more efficient engines and transmissions, all intended to broaden the car's appeal beyond its core American audience.The exterior sheet metal and the cabin have been redesigned to give it a more modern look and feel, but it also has styling cues inspired by past Mustangs.
David Schoch, president of Ford Asia Pacific, told journalists that it is a historic moment for Ford to launch a new Ford Mustang in Shanghai.
"This is a quite historic night for us launching Mustang around the world. We are going global and giving our customers the full family of Ford vehicles," he said.
The launch at Shanghai's Mandarin Oriental Hotel came just as the brand announced record November sales in China, where a newly wealthy middle class is buying like never before.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker announced on Thursday that it had sold 99,157 cars last month, an increase of over 50 percent on November 2012 figures and David Schoch is confident on the newMustang's future attraction to customers of all ages.
"China is the largest market in the world and our ability to bring it here is just the next step in our one Ford plan of being able to bring our full family of vehicles here," he said.
As well as in Shanghai, Ford planned to introduce the new design simultaneously at its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Sydney.
More than 100 Ford Mustang fans in China witnessed the new Mustang being revealed.
A 44-year-old Ford Mustang fan Liang Shuhao, who bought his own Mustang 7 years ago, is excited to see the new generation revealed in Shanghai.
"It's very modern. It has European and Japanese DNA with it. I think its rear part has European's DNA and its front part has Japanese DNA with it," he said.
The 2015 model is slated to go on sale next summer.
The original Mustang was introduced in New York in April 1964 to national fanfare and was purchased by more than half a million customers in 1965, its first full year on the market.
When it was last redesigned eight years ago, the Mustang took a step backward in time, with a retro design that has attracted fewer and fewer buyers.
Sales last year totaled just 82,995 and were down another 8 percent through October.
The automaker has developed a new rear-wheel-drive platform for the 2015 Mustang, which will ride on the same 107-inch wheelbase as its predecessor but is expected to shed several hundred pounds.
Ford has also revamped the car's suspension, steering and brakes, and upgraded engines and transmissions.