Lucas Bell 
When the Ford Mustang Mach-E made its official debut, there was a ton of hesitation from longtime fans of the nameplate. An electric crossover doesn’t exactly jive with the history of the muscle car, nor does it carry the same level of emotional appeal. Ford has been adamant that the Mach-E only serves to bolster the Mustang lineup however, and that they aren’t coming for you V8-powered coupe. Recent reports may suggest otherwise however, as we now know the two vehicles are slated to share the same electric vehicle architecture by the middle of the decade. And while that is already concerning enough for the pony car fanatics, some new data from Ford paints a very interesting picture. According to the automaker’s own data, they built more examples of Mustang Mach-E than traditional Ford Mustangs so far this year.
Mustang Mach-E: Coupe Coup
The news comes by way of Bloomberg, who reported that Ford has built 27,816 of the new electric vehicles at their Mexican production facility in 2021. By comparison, the automaker has cranked out 26,089 Ford Mustang coupes powered by gasoline at Flat Rock Assembly. The Mustang Mach-E has proved to be popular here in the United States, but not nearly like it has in other markets. In Norway for example, the EV was just the top selling vehicle overall last month. Stateside, the good ole ICE-powered Mustang still outsells the electric vehicle by nearly three-to-one.
Of course things are changing in the Industry. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently noted that he believes the company’s EV lineup will account for 40 percent of sales by 2030. This came as the company announced plans to up their investment into electric vehicle development and production by 36 percent, totaling in at $30 billion. He went on to note that the demand for Mustang Mach-E is high, and that the current wait in the States is months long.
Semiconductor Shortages
Now it isn’t entirely fair to point to the popularity of the new electric SUV as the culprit here. The global semiconductor chip shortage has been screwing things up across the industry, and Ford has suffered perhaps most of all. Due to the fact that the automaker brought out a ton of new and attractive models over the past year, a decision was made to use the limited supply of chips on those machines.
“We have purposely protected our launches — Bronco, Bronco Sport , Mach-E, F-150,” Farley said. “If we can switch a module over to one of those launch vehicles, we have. We’re very protective of the launches because they are so important for our business.”
This meant that the Ford Mustang kicked into the background as of late. In fact, not a single ICE-powered Mustang rolled off of the Ford’s production lines last month. This pause in production has left Ford’s supply of Mustangs at just 24 days, which is a third of what is healthy.
An Uneasy Future For Mustang
Ford knows how important the Mustang is to their brand. The pony car is the best selling sports car in the world after all. That said, the electric Mustang Mach-E is a vehicle they will depend on moving forwards. When the semiconductor chip shortage starts to be rectified, we’re sure that production totals will even out. Of course this may be a sign of what is to come in the future, as the two vehicles start to share the same electric architecture. A future we aren’t ready for over here, that’s for sure.
