{"id":21385,"date":"2017-11-17T16:36:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T20:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=21385"},"modified":"2017-11-17T16:36:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T20:36:16","slug":"payne-mustang-sales-roar-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/payne-mustang-sales-roar-overseas","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Mustang sales roar overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/1bf8745dac0b483f9b9278b4e2862dbf802c67fc\/c=151-0-960-608&amp;r=x404&amp;c=534x401\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/11\/16\/DetroitNews\/B99599301Z.1_20171116180623_000_GND1O8RDJ.1-0.jpg\" alt=\"Mustang-Dubai\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\"><em>Los Angeles<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 It seems Europeans crave rumbling, rib-rattling V-8s as much as we Yanks do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">Ford\u2019s decision in 2015 to sell its sixth-generation, iconic Mustang muscle car internationally has been a runaway success. The best-selling sports car in America for half a century is now the best-selling sports car in, for example, Germany \u2014 outpacing that country\u2019s own performance icons, the Porsche 911 and BMW M3. Mustang\u2019s international sales have kept Ford\u2019s Flat Rock Michigan assembly plant humming even\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodcarbadcar.net\/2017\/01\/usa-sports-car-sales-stats-december-2016-year-end\/\">as domestic sales have softened<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The global launch has also come with surprises.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cTo be honest, we thought it was going to be a majority Ecoboost take because of better fuel economy,\u201d says Ford cars marketing manager Corey Holter in reference to the lower-cost, turbocharged \u201cEcoboost\u201d 4-cylinder. \u201cBut for 50 years a lot of customers haven\u2019t been able to get Mustang, so fuel economy maybe was less a priority than getting the most iconic engine.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-position-377\" class=\"partner-placement partner-spike\" data-monetization-id=\"native-article_link\" data-monetization-sizes=\"fluid,3,3\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-news-opinion-379\" class=\"ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/mi-detroit-C1561\/native-article_link\/news\/opinion_2__container__\"><iframe id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/mi-detroit-C1561\/native-article_link\/news\/opinion_2\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" name=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/mi-detroit-C1561\/native-article_link\/news\/opinion_2\" width=\"100%\" height=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">That iconic V-8 engine is woven into the fabric of American auto culture \u2014 a culture that glorifies open roads and has been exported in Hollywood films for decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cFord spent 50 years building up equity for the Mustang,\u201d says Kelley Blue Book executive publisher and auto analyst Karl Brauer. \u201cIt was the forbidden fruit abroad. Foreigners saw it in movies like \u2018Bullitt\u2019 and \u2018Gone in 60 Seconds\u2019 and salivated. Now it\u2019s available internationally and Ford is meeting pent-up demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">While U.S. sales dipped 13 percent in 2016 after a breathtaking 122,395 units sold in 2015 (up nearly 50 percent over gen-5 sales), Mustang\u2019s international sales climbed 6 percent last year to almost 45,000 as Ford expanded the pony\u2019s presence to 140 countries. Six more countries are being added to the stable this year including Brazil and the Ivory Coast. In addition to Germany, Mustang is the sports car sales-leader in the world\u2019s biggest car market, China, with business up 74 percent in 2016 and another 33 percent so far this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Since 2015, some 395,000 sixth-gen \u2018Stangs have rolled out of Flat Rock \u2014 98,000 of them sold overseas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cTaking Mustang international has been a smart move,\u201d says KBB\u2019s Brauer. \u201cIt\u2019s tougher to justify the cost of a new sports car with a small number of domestic sales. But now you can justify it because it sells all over the planet \u2014 and helps the model survive the ups and downs of the U.S. economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The 2015 redesign was met with rave reviews for its menacing good looks, sophisticated suspension, and efficient, powerful 4-banger. A major mid-cycle refresh introduced to media here this November piles on the latest tech toys including a digital, 12-inch gauge cluster and quick-shifting, 10-speed transmission. Mated to the turbo-4 (a third, V-6 engine option was available only in the United States until this year), the 10-cog promises even better fuel economy for foreign markets like Europe where gas prices can push $6-a-gallon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But outside of China, where buyers pay a huge premium for the Mustang\u2019s high-displacement, 5.0-liter engine, global customers have ignored fuel economy for good ol\u2019 Yankee horsepower. Holter says European sales have run 60\/40 for the V-8 over the Ecoboost. In Australia where gas prices nudge $5-a-gallon, V-8 orders are running at 80 percent of sales.<\/p>\n<div class=\"partner-outstream\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Since it invented the affordable, so-called \u201cpony\u201d sports car in 1964, Mustang has consistently innovated in a competitive segment that includes cross-town rivals Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger. Ford\u2019s retro-styled, 2005 car breathed new life into the segment \u2014 and the current, sixth-gen car was the first to go global.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cYou can count on one hand the truly iconic cars. The Porsche 911. The Jeep Wrangler. From a brand equity standpoint, they are gold,\u201d says KBB\u2019s Brauer. \u201cFord has two of them: the F-150 pickup and the Mustang. Ford realizes that and they\u2019ve worked hard to maintain that brand equity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">He says Chevrolet and Dodge should take note.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cThey would be brilliant to follow Ford\u2019s lead,\u201d Brauer says. Like Mustang, the two-door Camaro (\u201cTransformers\u201d) and Challenger (\u201cFast and Furious\u201d) have co-starred in international blockbuster films.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cDodge especially has done an amazing job at turning its car into an international icon in a few short years,\u201d he continues. Born in the \u201960s muscle car wars, Challenger disappeared in 1974 \u2014 only to find new life in 2008. As Fiat-Chrysler develops its rear-wheel-drive Giorgio architecture\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/autoweek.com\/article\/car-news\/alfa-romeo-will-share-platforms-dodge-jeep-and-maserati\">as a global platform for all its performance steeds<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 from Alfa to Dodge \u2014 the Challenger has an opportunity to follow in Mustang\u2019s footsteps. As does Camaro, which shares the same bones as GM\u2019s nimble, luxurious Cadillac ATS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cInternational strategies can save brands,\u201d says Brauer. \u201cFor example, China\u2019s market saved Buick, not the US.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The same applies for Motor City muscle cars. \u201cThe Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger look like nothing else aboard,\u201d he says. Their V-8s sound like nothing else, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles\u00a0\u2014 It seems Europeans crave rumbling, rib-rattling V-8s as much as we Yanks do. Ford\u2019s decision in 2015 to sell its sixth-generation, iconic Mustang muscle car internationally has been a runaway success. The best-selling sports car in America for half a century is now the best-selling sports car in, for example, Germany \u2014 outpacing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21386,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385\/revisions\/21386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}