Just because the dust has settled, and our perceptions allowed time to adjust, we shouldn’t forget the fireball of controversy that engulfed the 2020 launch of this week’s road test subject - the Ford Mustang Mach-e.
The idea itself was not the issue. Crossovers are now without question the profit-making bedrock of almost every major car maker. And as for the all-electric bit, those same car makers are at dire risk of drowning in fines if they cannot rapidly bring down their average fleet emissions. So an electric crossover is a sensible product to make. And as the world’s fourth-largest car maker, Ford simply had to have one.
The controversy stemmed from the fact that this first bespoke EV for the brand uses the Ford Mustang name.
It hasn’t, as many initially feared, replaced the eight-cylinder Mustang – at least, not yet – but it’s certainly going to trade on that car’s legend. It’s difficult to think of any comparable strategy from another car maker, realised or not. Perhaps if Porsche decided to call the upcoming electric Macan the ‘911 E’? We doubt that would go down too well, either.
