Lemme just say that things have rapidly become very different at Ford. I'm not saying this is good or bad. I'm just saying that it is extremely unlikely that you will ever again find a combination like Raj Nair/Dave Pericak that possess both the authority and desire to consistently green light expensive, risky programs like Ford GT, and the willingness to rationalize them. Nair is no longer in charge of product development (and without him at that job there is literally zero chance the GT would have existed), Pericak is back at mainstream Ford and the position they basically created from him for all intents and purposes doesn't even exist anymore. Again, I don't say this as a sky-is-falling thing about the future of performance; I just say this to recognize that what was true yesterday might not be true tomorrow.
Therefore, I wouldn't spend too much time trying to divine the future, because I think at this point the future is subject to alteration literally at any point.
p.s, **** I want to put everyone in a car with that garbage A8 and in one with a decent DCT so they can stop comparing them. Geez.
I hope Ford continues to invest in Ford Performance as it's important to brand image. You see it across the marketplace and especially in luxury brands. It's clear that those that still want cars want them to be sporty otherwise they're buying a CUV/SUV. Even then performance still sells.
With all that said, I think it would be wise for Ford to keep pricing on their next high performance Mustang in check. When you get north of $70k there isn't much of a market outside of limited production runs like the GT350R. It will be interesting to see what we ultimately get out of the next GT500.
Fingers crossed we don't get another GT350 Tech Pack...the track car you can't track very long...I'd love to know the behind the scenes decision on that one.
Last edited: