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Ford has confirmed that its all-new Mustang, which will goes on sale in the UK next year, will be powered by a choice of two engines; a new 2.3-litre 310bhp EcoBoost and 435bhp 5.0-litre V8.
Ford has yet to announce specification details for the right hand drive Mustang fastback and convertible models it will sell in the UK from next summer but, as previously reported by Motor Trader, the brand will sell its US muscle car exclusively through metropolitan dealers under its Ford Store retail branding.
The Blue Oval is currently piloting its Ford Store programme at two of flagship outlets; Peoples Cars in Bootle and Ford Retail’s Edgware Road site in London.
Dealers who join the programme will display all of the brand’s expanding car and van line-ups with dedicated areas for the Mustang and Vignale-badged models, the brand’s new luxury sub-brand, which will be available on the new generation Mondeo as well as the S-Max.
“There will be some product exclusivity for the Ford Stores. Mustang and Vignale will be the preserve of the Ford Stores,” said Ford chairman and managing director Mark Ovenden.
Ovenden confirmed that measures would also be in place to facilitate customers wishing to buy a Mustang or Vignale model from their local Ford dealership.
“I don’t think it is our job to tell customers which dealers they will deal with. We just need to work out the mechanism on how to do it as the ordering and stocking of these vehicles will be through the Ford Stores.”
The Ford Store programme is part of a European initiative, which has already seen a new CI rollout, aimed at further raising the quality standards of the brand’s retailing by creating top-end outlets.
“Last year our dealer network invested £7m to £8m in showroom upgrades but we wanted to take this a stage further in the metro areas because of their high throughput of customers and the range of product that we’ve got coming,” he said.
“Ford Stores will basically be the epitome of everything that is Ford. As our model range expands it will be almost impossible for all dealers to stock all of the range. These stores will be able to fully support all our products and initiatives; that’s the Ford Store concept.”
Ovenden said the two pilot Ford Stores will be used to hone the concept and showcase it to other dealers before it is rolled out to other large city sites.
“As to how many we will have it will be driven more by quality than quantity, we want the right dealers in the right locations with the right partners and we will work our way through that.”