The Ford Mustang two-door will be rolling into its seventh decade without taking a detour toward electrification.
The seventh-generation 2024 Mustang unveiled Wednesday in Detroit will be offered with either a V-8 engine or a turbocharged four-cylinder like the outgoing model. And there are no plans for a hybrid or electric powertrain.
It will even be available with a six-speed manual transmission.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told Fox News Digital that consumers interested in an electric Ford sports car can buy the Mustang Mach-E, but that loyal Mustang buyers aren’t looking for that.
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“We don’t see hybrid applications in this vehicle line as being an attractive option at this point,” Farley said. “They’re expensive. It’s appropriate in an F-150 that can power your house or a Maverick that gets 42 mpg. But, for a V-8 customer in this segment, they want that V-8 experience, so we think this is the right bet for us.
“Mustang is one of the reasons why I came to the company, because the company was committed to making vehicles that are opinionated,” Farley added. “They’re not the result of extensive consumer research. They exist because of our belief that cars are still an emotional product that can give you an experience that other products can’t.”
The 2024 Mustang is an evolution of the current car that’s been redesigned with sharper exterior styling and a new interior that features dual widescreen digital displays for the instrument cluster and an infotainment system that can be configured in a variety of ways to suit the driver’s preference.
Vehicle Engineering Manager Eddie Khan told The Fox Garage that the Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 in the Mustang GT will be the most powerful version of the engine ever. The exact figure hasn’t been finalized, but the team is targeting 500 horsepower for a high-performance Dark Horse model that will sit above the GT.
A Remote Rev function included with the Performance Pack that can be ordered with either engine will allow owners to use a button on their key fob to rev the engine from outside the vehicle just for fun, while an electronic drift brake will provide a new way to enjoy a car from the driver’s seat.
The emergency brake handle is electronically connected to the rear brakes and can be used to lock them up to initiate a drift through a curve and can be switched through several levels of intensity to help the driver develop skills.
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The Performance Pack also comes with upgraded tires, brakes and a computer-controlled suspension system that adjusts the stiffness of the shocks between comfort and handling and can also mitigate the harshness of driving through potholes. It does that by collecting information from the front wheels as it drives through the hole and using that to prepare the rear shocks for the impact.
Pricing for the 2024 Mustang will be announced closer to when it goes on sale next summer.
While some have predicted this will be the last generation Mustang powered by a V-8 engine, Farley isn’t so sure.
“I don’t think any of us can answer that question. We don’t know,” he said.
