There are few things more American than the Ford Mustang. The pony car first appeared in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, tore through the immortally awesome nine-minute chase scene at the hands of Steve McQueen in Bullit, and became an obsession as 'Eleanor' in Gone in 60 Seconds. Hell, it even got its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 2015 Mustang will be sold around the world, but Ford's unapologetic stance is that Mustang is and always will be American. Ford will continue to market it as an iconic part of American culture rather than seek out regional opportunities to integrate Mustang into local culture.
"Mustang is Mustang," said Jim Farley, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, Sales and Service for Ford and Lincoln. "We have no interest in changing the DNA of the product because it's going global. It represents like Levi's—that idea of American freedom, of a road trip. Even people [globally] who weren't that familiar with Mustang said that Mustang's not a traditional sports car. We have no interest in trying to change people's minds about what Mustang is."
The first starring role for the new Mustang is the upcoming Need for Speed film, which hits theaters March 14. While we're 100 percent sure the movie isn't going to take home any Oscars, Ford made the decision to partner with Dreamworks on the film because it represents the type of action people think of when they imagine Mustang.
"We thought that would be a smarter way to promote Mustang than a TV ad. It shows characters using the car the way people would love to to use it," Farley said.
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Ford sees the DNA of Mustang as core to the DNA of Ford, especially since launching the One Ford structure and development plan, in which previously regional products have become global.
"On one hand, One Ford meant European products of the world, but on the other hand, we didn't want it to just mean European STs. One Ford also means that Mustang can be sold in China or in Europe. One Ford also means that our company is an American company. Yeah, we're a British brand in Britain, and to many people we're a German brand in Germany, but we're not really home anywhere else but the US."
The decision to take Mustang global wasn't the result of exhaustive customer research, but something that many executives at Ford fought hard for with the launch of the new model.
"When it comes to 911 and Porsche or Mustang and Ford, they're connected to the core brand," he said. "We think that Mustang says something about the company just like Fiat is an Italian company. That's why it's here on the stand. We're not shy about it, and we're not gonna change the product."
Farley and the Ford team are hopeful about bringing a badass piece of America to the rest of the world.
"I hope it works," he said, leaning forward.
