Ford receives good orders for Mustang Mach-e cars

WASHINGTON: Ford Motor Co said reservations were full for the high-end Mustang Mach-e First Edition electric sport utility vehicle.

The No. 2 US automaker unveiled the electric Mustang crossover on Nov.17, and began taking reservations with a refundable deposit of $500.

There are four other versions of the Mach-e in addition to the First Edition.

Ford did not provide details on how many reservations it took for the First Edition, which sells for about $60,000, but has said global production in the first 12 months for all versions of the Mach-e is limited to 50,000 vehicles.

The Mach-e has become a high-profile test for a restructuring at Ford that has been marred by profit warnings, costly quality problems and the troubled launch this year of another important vehicle, the Ford Explorer sport utility.

The Mach-e was unveiled in Los Angeles in November. It will be built in Mexico, the first of more than a dozen all-electric vehicles Ford plans to launch by 2022 with an investment of $11.5 billion. The Mach-e’s design was inspired by the classic 1960s Mustang sports car and is meant to challenge electric carmaker Tesla Inc. More than 80% of US customers are reserving Mach-e with an extended range battery, while about 55% opted for an all-wheel drive, Ford said. More than 25% of the reservations are from California, with nearly 30% of U.S. customers choosing Mach-e GT, the company said. The Ford Mustang Mach-e is a five-door electric crossover SUV produced by Ford. The vehicle was introduced on November 17, 2019, and is expected to go on sale in late 2020 as a 2021 model.