Murray16

http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/17/pf/autos/ford_mustang/

Good for Ford. But how long do you think the new mustang hype will last? I personally think that in the long run resale value is going to be destroyed. But of course that really dosen't affect Ford at all so why should they care? Anyone else have a take on this?

arattle

Good for them, I figured right away that the looks alone will sell the car, plus the value, as always, is great. Not my cup of tea, but since the old 'stangs sold so well, and this one is better in every way, why not?

What amazes me most, though, is that a year after the car's release, I'm yet to see a single one on the road! It says they sold 112,000 last year. Where did they go!?

guy321

I see them ALL over, I see them more in rural towns than anything..

I saw 5 or 6 different ones in Homosassa (where that kidnapped girl is from). There are also 3 or 4 at my work.

Ike

I've seen all of 1 on the road in the Milwaukee area...

DreRX8

I've seen a few--I'd definately pick up a used one cause they depreciate quickly. Its still an excellent buy.

BlueEyes

I have seen 3; white yellow and a nasty green colour. One of my buddies bought a black GT and I intend to thrash it a bit when he takes delivery.

Ajax

I've seen every color they make on the road here in TX, but you dont see them very frequently. The brown, baby blue and green look friggin terrible.

Shoafb

Green does look pretty bad. The black looked the best to me .... but black is such a PITA to keep up. Can't argue with those sales though. More money in Fords pocket can't be that bad of a thing for Mazda?

Thetitanium8

Yeah I think they were all dumped in tampa area. I seen hundreds of 6 and about 25 or so v8s

Fanman

I see them a lot, but it seems that for every GT I see about 10 of the base mustangs. I don't think it was that skewed with the last model. Personally I think it is foolish for them to boost production 70 % just because of 1st year sales. There was pent up demend for the car, so obviously there would be a high initial surge from the previous year. They are going to mess with production, and then demand will fall away & they will be stuck offering massive discounts on stuff on the lots.

MI_FamilyMan

I'm thinking the same thing myself. I see more 8's on the road than new Mustangs of any kind and I am in Detroit!! I see plenty on the local dealership lot though... :p Of course, we had a rough winter so we'll see what spring brings.

I agree with Fanman, just like the PT Cruiser, production will be ramped up just to see interest level off. Then like always, lots of inventory means lots of incentives...

crossbow

Does this mean the dealerships will stop charging a 9,000 USD market adjustment for the car?

The car's great for the price, the problem is none of the dealerships are actually selling it for that =/.

Aratinga

They're the new belly-button car in So Cal. They're all over the place; mostly the V6, but a GT here and there too.

I love the looks, but I'm glad we got the GTO instead; I don't like seeing myself coming and going all the time. Bad enough with a white Miata!

cas2themoe

They just came out and I'm tired of seeing them already!

BlueEyes

I know that it isn't what the mustang was built upon, but sometimes I wish the only version offered was the GT. I really hate the base stang.

My buddy got his for MSRP. Have they been jacking up the price a lot, I haven't heard much about it up here.

Shoafb

I can't wait for the svt cobra version..........just have to save the $$ for it. On the other hand if they over produce this gt and start offering 3-4k rebates it'll be pretty tempting.

m477

This goes in the "duh" category. Of course they're going to sell more in the first year after the redesign. It pretty much always happens that way in the auto industry, with the exception of the Bangled BMWs :p.

therm8

I'm happy that Ford has a good seller, but that car just looks ugly in person. I thought I liked it when I saw pictures of it.

Speed-ER doc

I like it better every time I see one.

markd

Then the interior of the old Mustangs must have been absolutely horrific because the inside of the new models is plasticky and very, very cheap looking. I went with my friend to a Ford lot since he was in search of a new sports car. We spent five minutes there and left feeling very disappointed. The car looks good for about twenty seconds until you realize everything else about it, not counting the engine.

With the production boost, the new Mustang's look now will surely lose its novelty quickly.

snizzle

They gotta keep the price low somehow, look what happened to the Camaro/Firebird and now the GTO.... it's unfortunate for the buyer but it's working for Ford, at least they've got a better engine in the thing now

I see a lot of the V6 on the road, only 2-3 V8s yet

arattle

Ayup. Rented one last year, a V6, nothing special. You know those big fat buttons for the radio that Oldsmobiles have for old people? Same ones inn the 'stang. Extremely cheap looking gauges, everything is the cheapest possible plastic trim. Really left a bad taste in my mouth. The new ones looked a lot better in pictures, but when I sat in one at the Philly auto show, it is only a slight improvement over the previous model.

-arattle

RX8_Buckeye

Actually, resale value has a huge impact on manufacturers. The better a model holds its value, the easier it is to sell new vehicles. If you can get a 3-year old vehicle for 30% of its original price, why would you ever consider buying a new one? On the other hand, if residual value after 3 years is 55% of new price, the average consumer is more likely to bite the bullet and buy a new one. The other advantage of a high residual value is that manufacturers can offer much better lease deals to customers and thus sales volume increases.

Also, it is more than just the number of cars on the road that affects resale value. The overall appeal of the car, value for the money, and reliability record are just as important. The 3-year residual value of a model can be predicted fairly accurately even before it is launched. If I remember correctly, the new Mustang was given around a 50% residual value by several independent firms, compared to around 30% for the outgoing Mustang.

I believe most of the early deliveries were to the southern states, which makes sense. Only the die-hard enthusiasts are going to buy a Mustang GT in the middle of a snowy winter. Once it starts warming up, you'll see them all over the place in all states.

Sales are far surpassing the typical increase that comes with a redesign. There were 25,000 orders placed before production even started. This is unheard of for a sports car in recent times.

That's probably just an anomoly. Believe it or not, the mix-rate of GT's is higher during the first year of production to meet enthusiast demand. As time goes on, the mix rate will settle around 40/60 V-6/V-8. I suspect you're seeing many Hertz rentals, which are all V-6's.

Remember, production of the convertible just started, so Ford has actually seen an increase in demand for the Mustang. The orders keep coming in, and the plant is running at full capacity. What would you do if you were making the decisions? Production can always be scaled back the following year if demand levels off. In this case, the mix-rate of Mazda6's will simply be increased at AAI, freeing up resources at other plants.