The good news from the Mustang's success is showing itself in several ways, according to Reuter.
"We've never done it like this without incentives. We're doing this with no money, no spiff," he said. "We're selling this car based on how good it is."
Indeed, the V8 version of the Mustang, with its 300 horsepower engine, is responsible for 40% of sales, which is substantially higher than previous model years. The V8 hardtop starts at $25,570, and the cheapest V6 starts at $19,410.
The Mustang convertible, which began selling several weeks ago, is expected to account for about 30% of total sales in the $24,495 V6 and $29,995 V8 versions.
Reuter said the Mustang's success is due to three main reasons: "It's fast, it's fun and it's affordable -- no different than what's made the Mustang successful for 41 years."
The success of the reincarnated Pony is clearly driving sales to Ford dealers. Not only do 75% of Mustang shoppers "wind up driving away in one," Reuter said, but 5% of overall Mustang-driven traffic winds up buying a different Ford product.
So instead of simply losing potential from the 25% of Mustang shoppers who decide against buying the vehicle, dealers are still able to make a sale.
Further, Reuter claimed that 25% of Mustang buyers are in turn influencing "another Ford product purchase, through a friend or a family member."
Besides the bottom line for Ford corporate and its dealer base, the Mustang's success is having a positive effect on morale. "This makes us feel great, it makes our employees feel great," Reuter said. "It's just one piece of a car rejuvenation strategy that's working at Ford division."
As proof that things are going well for the company in other areas, Reuter pointed out that sales of the Ford Five Hundred, Freestyle and the Mercury Montego are on target to hit Ford's goal of an annual selling rate of 200,000 combined units.
Sales of those vehicles, which share the same platform, were up 35% in February and Reuter expects another double-digit increase for this month.
"There's no doubt customers love them. They're coming to the dealership and they're buying them," he said, adding that the cars are turning in the best customer satisfaction numbers "we've seen on a car in recent memory."
As for the Mustang, Reuter said part of its success is that the 210-hp V6 gives the customer nearly the same level of satisfaction as its souped-up sibling.
"It's just as exciting in the base model as it is in a fully-loaded GT. We've given customers an absolutely fantastic vehicle with the retro-styled interior, the twin cowl cockpit and double-barreled gauge pods.
"We've joked it's basically a $30,000 interior in a $20,000 car," Reuter said.
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