To Be? Or Not To Be?

One cannot argue that the Mustang Mach E is an amazing vehicle — but a public relations nightmare.

Could this be from the result of a CEO who couldn’t take no for an answer? Or was it poor consumer research performed by an agency? Within all of the variables that could possibly be, one is certain; sometimes the largest, most brilliant companies produce a flop.

Which wasn’t the case in 1964, when Ford motor company released a hot new sports vehicle dubbed a pony car and named the Mustang. Funded by Lee Iacocca, and produced behind the back of William Ford, the Mustang was the answer to the rebel youth of that period, and moved on to out-sell Mr. Ford’s failure, the Etsel, by the hundreds of thousands.

Since then, we can all agree that pony car Mustang has been Ford’s flagship muscle machine taking on the world in style, performance and attitude, while becoming a culture icon and global deity.

But fast forward to 2019, a period when electric vehicles are becoming the new environmental waste, but a natural transition for society; and the outdated combustion engines a sounding roar of the past.  The electric car is inevitable — and riding on top the elective wave, an electric powered Mustang.

Meanwhile Mustang enthusiasts have been hanging on the to edge of their seats in hopes of a blissful moment, when the announcement of a retro-electric pony car, with muscle in its posture and heritage in its veins — received a Hiroshima-sized bomb dropped on top their dreams.  FMC announced a Mustang SUV, dubbed the Mach E.

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One cannot deny the Mach E is a basic looking electric powered SUV, with a few subtle Mustang styling cues thrown into the mix.  And most can’t argue, the specs are actually quite good, with it’s handling, power and electrical range of charge – but none of that has mattered, because every bit of greatness of what could have been a successful product launch has backfired — due to a name.

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Since the debut of the electric SUV Mustang, FMC’s public relations nightmare has not ended. At first, FMC was deleting the comments on their social media feeds, in effort to reduce the negativity. But one thing about the network of the Internet and social media is that it cannot be controlled. Not one single post of the Ford SUV that we’ve found includes a positive comment about utilizing the Mustang name for their new electric SUV.

Great or not? The people have spoken, and the Mustang Mach E SUV, is not to be.

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