- First customer shipment of All New Ford Mustangs has arrived in New Zealand
- New Zealand pre-orders jump to more than 550 – almost double the pre-orders announced in early 2015!
- New Zealand bucks global colour trend with ‘Magnetic’ now being #1 choice
The wait is over for some of the 550-plus customers who have pre-ordered the All New Ford Mustang. The first ship from the USA with New Zealand-bound Mustangs aboard docked in Auckland earlier this week!
“It’s New Zealand automotive history in the making,” said Corey Holter, managing director, Ford New Zealand. “These are the very first, factory-built in the USA, right-hand drive Ford Mustangs in the country. Safe to say, we are as excited as the customers who will be taking delivery over the next week or so!”
The first shipment of All New Ford Mustangs is currently being moved from the Auckland wharf to the Ford Vehicle Compound where they are going through a series of final checks. They will then be transported to dealerships around the country where the keys will be handed over to customers.
Pre-orders in New Zealand for the All New Mustang have now topped 550 – an unprecedented number for any vehicle in New Zealand and almost twice the amount of pre-orders that were placed at the beginning of the year.
“The magic of the Ford Mustang is its universal appeal,” added Holter. “The Mustang is everything we love about cars – it embodies driving excitement, fun and the freedom of the open road. Ford says the Mustang is the heart and soul of the Ford Motor Company but I’d go one further and say it’s the heart and soul of motoring.”
New Zealand’s colour choice bucks global trends
The overwhelming choice among the pre-orders remains the Mustang GT Fastback with the six-speed automatic GT 5.0-litre V8. In New Zealand, it makes up approximately 58 per cent of the first orders.
Around the world, ‘Race Red’ has been the clear front runner and up until very recently the most popular Mustang colour choice here in New Zealand as well. However, ‘Magnetic’ has now overtaken the lead as the top colour choice for Kiwis. ‘Race Red’ now takes a close second place followed by ‘Ruby Red’, ‘Deep Impact Blue’, ‘Shadow Black’, ‘Oxford White’ and then ‘Triple Yellow’.
Convertibles make up 15 per cent of total orders. Manual transmissions were also 15 per cent of the orders.
Unmistakably Mustang!
Visually, the All New Mustang is unmistakable in its clean-sheet design. It has kept its classic shape, with a long sculpted hood and short rear deck, but with contemporary changes.
Several key design features define the All New Ford Mustang, including:
- A low roof height and wide stance
- Sleek profile enabled by steeply sloped windscreen and rear glass
- Three-dimensional, tri-bar tail-lamps
- Contemporary execution of the iconic car’s signature trapezoidal grille and shark-bite front fascia
An impressive year for Ford New Zealand
The arrival of the All New Mustang is the icing on the cake for what has been a huge year for Ford New Zealand. The company has introduced a record number of smart new vehicles – the largest line up refresh in Ford New Zealand’s history.
“It’s been an exciting and very busy year for us,” said Holter. “With all the new vehicles having now arrived though, we are looking forward to an even more fantastic 2016. We’ll have a full year of refreshed showrooms from the start, all with a smart line up of exciting new vehicles for Kiwis.”
Introduced in October this year the New Ford Ranger has helped extend the ute’s lead as not only the number one ute in the country but also as the overall number one new car in the country. Other introductions to the Ford line up in 2015 included the New Ford Falcon XR8 and XR6, the New Ford Territory at the beginning of the year.
The All New Ford Mondeo was also introduced in 2015 and has been named Finalist for New Zealand Car of the Year 2015.
A refreshed Ford Kuga, and entirely new Focus range including new ST and Wagon have also been rolled out to showroom across the country. Also launched this year, was the All New Ford Everest – a brand new, seven-seat 4WD SUV that quickly rose to number two in its segment in its first month of sales, just one unit behind the Prado.
The Mustang I Prototype was debuted in 1962 on October 7 at the Watkins Glen racetrack in New York
The Ford Mustang was premiered on 17 April 1964 at New York’s World Fair
22,000 Ford Mustangs were sold within the first day of its release
Within two years, more than one million Ford Mustangs were sold
The first Mustang off the assembly line was sold (by mistake) to an airplane pilot (see story below)
Independent Rear Suspension (now on the 2015 Ford Mustang in NZ) was actually considered for performance versions of the Mustang way back in the 60s.
The 1964.5 Mustangs were not really 1964.5 models. They were considered to actually be EARLY 1965’s. So, the first digit of the VIN number (last digit of the model year) was 5, not 4.
The Fastback Mustang debuted on 1 October 1964.
Phil Clark is the original designer of the galloping horse logo.
John Najjar, the original designer of the Mustang I Prototype (drawings) supposedly named his design after the P-51 Mustang airplane, but Lee Iacocca has stated a few times that it was directly named after the horse itself, not the airplane.
The 9 millionth Mustang, a GT convertible, was built in 2008 and sold to an Iowa farmer.
Ford Sells Mustang Number One!
Mustang Number One (VIN 5F08F100001), a convertible, was accidentally sold when it was brand-new. Ford intended to truck the car across Canada on a tour of dealerships. However, a salesman in St. Johns, Newfoundland, accidentally sold it to airline pilot Captain Stanley Tucker. He drove it about 10,000 miles and then traded it back to Ford. In fact, he traded up for the 1,000,001 Mustang built. A ’66 model assembled at Dearborn, Michigan, on March 2, 1966. Today, 5F08F100001 is on display in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Movies and Social Media
The Ford Mustang has appeared in more than 500 films.
The Ford Mustang has its own star on Hollywood Boulevard.
The most iconic Ford Mustang appearance was in the Steve McQueen film ‘Bullitt’ which premiered on 17 October 1968.
The Ford Mustang Facebook page has more than 8 million fans – more than any other vehicle