Ford Mustang Bullitt nearly sold out
BY TUNG NGUYEN | 12th Oct 2018
FORD Australia has nearly sold out of all 700 examples of its Mustang Bullitt before the new flagship pony car has even touched down on local soil, revealed Ford Australia product communications manager Damion Smy.
Speaking to journalists at the Bullitt’s local debut at Melbourne’s Motorclassica, Mr Smy said customers wanting to purchase the new Mustang could be out of luck.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested in a Bullitt to talk to their dealers as quickly as possible because we’re very close to being out of stock,” he said.
“We know that Australians love Mustang, we’ve seen 33 months of consecutive sales charts success for Mustang, there’s a hunger and a passion for Mustang that is reflected by the fact that we didn’t have trouble with this 700.
“We know that people are looking for something a little bit different in their Mustang.”
Priced at $73,688 before on-roads, the Bullitt is $10,698 more expensive than the manual Mustang GT on which it is based, but justifies its increased price with an additional 6kW of power from its 5.0-litre Coyote V8.
Torque figures remain static however, for a 345kW/556Nm output, while other upgrades include Dark Highland Green paintwork, 19-inch Torq Thrust alloy wheels, red brake callipers and a Bullitt fuel cap.
Created as a homage to the 1968 Steve McQueen film Bullitt, Ford Australia had hoped to receive the cars in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary on October 17, but new Mustangs will now miss the deadline and launch at a later date.
When asked by GoAuto if the bespoke Bullitt, the first special-edition Mustang to arrive locally, will herald more customised pony cars, Mr Smy said: “We know there’s appetite for more special-edition Mustangs and we’re constantly working to see what we can deliver for Australia.
“We’d love to have more special editions, we just have to make sure we do it right. All of our cars come with a five-year warranty, so we need to make sure that when we add things to our vehicles we do it to an OEM standard and that it’s to the level that customers expect.
“We’ll always explore what’s possible … we’re open to creating what works for the market, so we wouldn’t rule anything out necessarily.”
Mr Smy would not be drawn on whether talks had taken place to bring in the supercharged Shelby GT, which in current guise ups outputs more than 520kW thanks to forced induction, but Ford Australia communications manager Martin Gunsberg confirmed the brand had looked at introducing the Mustang with a blower.
“We’ve looked at superchargers before and we weren’t able to get them through ADRs as an OEM,” he said. “Drive-by noise is an issue for example.”
However, aftermarket tuning companies such as Herrod and Tickford are able to offer a supercharger in the Mustang due different regulations governing their add-on kits, said Mr Gunsberg.
“The aftermarket has a very different level of standards they have to meet compared to an OEM from an ADR point of view … which makes it challenging for us to work in some of the spaces that they are,” he said.
“There are challenges in ADR in bringing a supercharged vehicle into Australia, we’d love to see one, but whether we’re going to be able to achieve it is another thing.”
The Mustang has had clear space in the muscle car market since its local launch in early 2016, but Chevrolet’s Camaro – right-hand-drive converted by Holden Special Vehicles – launched last month to challenge the Blue Oval’s sportscars.
Mr Smy welcomed the challenger into the market, but said Ford will continue to focus on growing its share.
“Obviously the success of Mustang shows there is a great appetite for sportscars in Australia,” he said. “We’re open to competition, other brands can work on their strategies, we’ll continue to work on bringing Mustang to our customers that want cars like Bullitt and the individuality offered on the 2018 model.”
