Ford Was Blindsided by Demand for the Mach-E GT

By John Coyle - September 13, 2021

A new interview reveals that the Mach-E has been something of a “more money, more problems” situation for Ford.

When it decided to offer a Mustang-branded crossover, Ford knew it would face backlash from hardcore fans of its legendary pony car. Wisely, the Blue Oval decided that unpleasantness would be relatively fleeting, and that it was worth the risk. As it turns out, the Mach-E has turned out to be a brilliant move, and the high performance GT version has proven to be a smash hit with buyers. It’s actually been such a success that the company has been blindsided by the volume of orders.

In a new interview with The Drive, Ford CEO Jim Farley opens up about how shocked — pun intended — the leadership at Ford was by the interest, and it’s a great read. Of course, unplanned success is way better than unexpected failure, but it comes with its own set of problems, which has presented loads of challenges to the manufacturing wing of the company. I think this bit does a great job of illustrating the breakdown that was occurring between different camps in the organization:

“We didn’t have the right spec levels, the GT was much more popular than we thought,” said Farley. “We couldn’t react. It was like, the marketing team could, but the industrial system that creates the physical product, and the software team—they didn’t like, get the memo of this demand.”

What might be even more interesting to industry geeks is that the demand for the spicy crossover has actually prompted Ford to explore producing its own batteries, so it won’t be dependent on outside vendors as it shifts toward more electric car production. Given that the F-150 Lightning is in the mail, and the internal combustion Mustang is almost certainly dead after 2028, such a move would put Dearborn in a excellent position down the road. Because the future is electric — and there’s no going back.

Those little bits are just a couple of the interesting insights Farley gave into the current thinking at Ford, and I highly recommend checking out the whole interview for even more on the company’s trajectory. One thing which really piqued my interest was how Farley wants the next Mustang to be the kind of car that kids put on their wall. Because given that plenty of kids likely already have posters of the Mustang decorating their bedrooms, it makes me think that he wants to go in a much more exotic direction for the forthcoming gen. So how do you think Ford could go about that? Hit me up and let me know!

Photos: Ford