Under Alan Mulally, the Ford Motor Company has aligned its diverse global markets into pulling most cars and parts from just a few different bins. This lowers costs, and makes selling cars in different regions with different regulations easier. It also means that the next Ford Mustang will be sold in many different regions, including Europe and Australia, where it will come in a right-hand drive configuration.
That has India-based car magazine Motoroids wondering aloud whether or not the 2015 Ford Mustang might come to India as well. With a billion people and counting, the car market in India is wide open, and the Mustang might turn the spotlight on Ford for a while.
Of course the Indian car market is far from mature, and importation taxes and fees on the Mustang would mean that only the wealthiest could afford the American muscle car. In a country home to the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, the Mustang would be mostly a luxury vehicle and status symbol, as well as a brand builder.
The Indian car market is up for grabs, with European, Korean, Japanese, and American automakers all battling a growing domestic car industry in that country. Ford is making inroads in countries like India, and the One Ford plan calls for the selling of similar products in all of the Blue Oval’s markets. If a right-hand drive version of the Mustang can be sold in Australia, why not India too? It’s certainly more exciting than Ford of India’s latest release, the mini-SUV EcoSport.
Is India next on the list for the 2015 Ford Mustang?