Ford Produces More Mach-E Mustangs Than Its Gas-Powered Cousins

By John Coyle - June 18, 2021

Is this a case of new-vehicle hype, or is the Mach-E poised to become the new king of Mustang sales?

Halfway through 2021, Ford just reported some surprising news about its Mustang brand. Specifically, in the last five months, they’ve produced 27,816 Mustang Mach-Es and 26,089 traditional Mustang coupes and convertibles. (And yes, this includes the red hot Mach 1.) So what does this mean? Let’s dive in.

1,727 is a pretty small number for a company that measures annual truck sales in millions. Add in factors like Ford rolling the Mach-E out for international markets and the hype generated by a new vehicle. By contrast, we’re seven model years into the S550 generation Mustang (and four model years into the 2018 refresh and third-gen Coyote). And chip shortages continue to shutter the (internal combustion engine) Mustang plant on and off. The other red herring in Ford’s announcement is that these are PRODUCTION numbers, not SALES figures. When it comes to sales, two-door Mustangs still reign.

So what do you think? Is this an emerging trend? A statistical fluke driven by a combination of unique factors?

As the impacts of the pandemic fade, and the global chip shortage gets under control, we might see the old-school coupes surpass the electric interloper. For now, however, it looks like the Mach-E proved that, electric cars are pretty quick when you’re coming from a dig — even when it comes to sales.

For what it’s worth? I’m curious as to how long it’ll be before the production discrepancy is permanent. Because like it or not with the way the industry is pivoting toward all things electric, it might be sooner rather than later.

Back in January, there were reports that the first all-electric Mustang coupe was slated to arrive in 2028, which at this point sounds crazy far into the future. Of course, as far as automotive lifecycles go, it’s really not that far away, and it would mean that the upcoming generation of internal-combustion Mustangs would be the company’s last. Sure, it’ll be an eternity before you won’t see any “classic” versions on the road, but the time when you can’t buy a new gas-powered Mustang is just around the corner.

It’s also important to consider that the Mach-E is a crossover — the absolutely hottest platform in the automotive world today. These practical people movers and the machines that are shifting units, to the point where even legendary sports marques like Porsche and Lamborghini see most of their profits from the road-friendly SUVs. Hell, even Ferrari — though Modena is calling it something else — will be bringing one to market, which must tell you something. Obviously, I’ll be keeping an eye on production, and I predict within the next couple years, the Mach-E will move ahead for good. Mark my words.

Photos: Ford