The Mustang is an American icon, but as of this week the nameplate also calls China home.
Ford has started production of the Mustang, specifically the Mustang Mach-E, at a plant in Chongqing, China, with the first completed example of the battery-electric crossover rolling off the line on Monday. Mustang Mach-Es built at the plant will be sold in China, Ford has confirmed. For the rest of the world, Mustang Mach-Es are built at Ford's Cuautitlan plant in Mexico.
The Chinese plant is part of a sprawling complex operated by a joint venture between Ford and Chinese automaker Changan. Other Ford vehicles built at the site include the EcoSport, Escape, Focus and Fusion, plus a Chinese-market budget sedan carrying the Escort name.
The Mustang Mach-E will likely prove popular in China, where sales of crossovers are strong, and building the vehicle there will help Ford avoid tariffs. The electric crossover will be offered in four grades there, with deliveries to start by the end of the year.
Ford will sell the Mustang Mach-E in China via company-owned stores focused on selling EVs. The Blue Oval expects to have 25 of these stores in operation by the end of the year and plans to have more than 100 open within the next five years.
Back in the U.S., we've seen the Mustang Mach-E already outsell the Mustang muscle car in some months, though it still lags its gas-sipping counterpart for the year. Ford reported that 18,855 Mustang Mach-Es have been sold for the first nine months of the year, versus 41,035 examples of the regular Mustang.
Mustang Mach-E sales will likely receive a boost in the fourth quarter thanks to the arrival of the GT and GT Performance Edition models. Each boasts 480 hp and 0-60 mph times in under 4.0 seconds.
