With the order banks for the 2024 Ford Mustang (S650) open for a few months now, the carmaker has recently sent emails to those who have placed their orders, letting them know the production of the seventh-generation ‘Stang will be delayed and citing supply chain problems.
Multiple 2024 Mustangs have been spotted on the road, especially around the Blue Oval’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, while we’ve also seen the 2024 Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD Formula Drift machine at work. However, while the latter is a race car and the former are early production vehicles, the matter at hand involves mass production, namely the kind of vehicles that reach customers’ driveways.
Ford’s emails regarding the postponement of the S650 Mustang’s production have already shown up on YouTube. For one, vlogger Racer X, who has 2024 Mustang Dark Horse on order, has published part of the communication in his latest clip—we added his screenshot to an official 2024 Mustang image for the intro photo of the article.
Of course, this affects both “normal” Mustangs (the $33,515 MSRP EcoBoost and the $41,335 MSRP GT with its V8), as well as the N/A V8 range-topper that is the Dark Horse, with its $59,565 starting price.
Multiple S650 buyers who have placed their orders also talk about the official email on the production delay
Other people who have placed their S650 orders took to the Mustang7G forums to talk about the delay. However, neither these folks nor the said YouTuber show Ford communicating a specific date for the start of the seventh-gen pony’s mass production.
However, the vlogger does cite multiple sources claiming the 2024 Mustang will start rolling off the assembly line in Flat Rock, Michigan starting September 2023. This could mean that some customers who have already ordered the car will have to wait further into 2024 to receive their vehicles.
The rumors about Ford having temporarily stopped production at the Flat Rock assembly plant
There’s no official information about this topic, but the YouTuber and multiple buyers on the said forums talk about Ford having temporarily shut down production in Flat Rock. The vlogger goes as far as stating the reasons involved quality concerns regarding the new Mustang (e.g., body fitment, electrical matters, and V8 valvetrain aspects).
Then we have the forum members, some of whom wonder if this delay will be the kind of prolonged operation that affected the market introduction of the new Bronco back in 2021. Nevertheless, we believe the ingredients for the comparison may not be there.
For starters, the Bronco was an all-new product the public demanded in much higher numbers than the automaker anticipated, whereas the S650 Mustang is based on the outgoing S550.
Then there’s the fact that one of the greatest issues affecting the Bronco was caused by removable hardtop supplier Webasto being affected by delays caused by the global health crisis, which the World Health Organization recently declared is no longer a global health emergency.
Then again, the chip shortage continues to be an important problem, so we can’t discard this.
As the YouTuber aptly notes, first-model-year hurdles are common in the automotive industry and certain forum members looking for the silver lining here see this as a potential opportunity for Ford to ensure the S650 Mustang moves as far from such problems as possible. We’ll keep you updated on the production start date of the 2024 Mustang as soon as more info becomes available.