DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — America’s first pony car — theFord Mustang — is celebrating its 50th
birthday with a swoon-worthy newdesign and plans to go global.Ford Motor Co. was to reveal the2015 Mustang
Thursday morning at events in New York, Los Angeles,Shanghai, Sydney, Barcelona and its hometown of
Dearborn. It goes onsale next fall in North America and will arrive later in Europe andAsia.The Mustang
isn’t anywhere near Ford’s best-seller — Fordsells more pickups in a week than it does Mustangs in a month.
But Fordsays the Mustang has the highest name recognition and highest favorableopinion of any car in its
lineup. And car companies count on beautifulsports cars to cast a glow over the rest of their
offerings."It’s an emotional connection to the rest of the brand," said Jacques Brent, group
marketing manager for large cars and SUVs.Asfor sales, Ford will be happy if Mustang can become the top
sellingpony car in the U.S. The Chevrolet Camaro, which followed the Mustang tomarket in 1966 and was last
redesigned in 2009, has outsold the Mustangfor the last three years and is on track to do it again this
year,according to Kelley Blue Book.The Mustang’s first full redesignsince 2005 presented Ford with a tough
task: Update and freshen an iconwithout alienating its passionate fans. More than 9 million Mustangshave
been sold since 1964, and the car has hundreds of fan clubs,including one solely for owners of yellow
Mustangs. Farrah Fawcett drovea white one in "Charlie’s Angels;" Steve McQueen raced a dark green
onethrough the streets of San Francisco in 1968’s "Bullitt."Theresult is a new car with plenty of
cues from the old. The long hood andsloping fastback are still there, as is the trapezoid-shaped grille
withthe Mustang logo from the original. But the new car sits lower andwider, and the roof tapers
dramatically in the front and back. Thesignature rounded headlights are smaller and sit back under a
fierce,chiseled brow, while the traditional three-bar taillights are nowthree-dimensional and tucked beneath
the rear deck lid.TheMichigan-made car is currently sold overseas, but this is the first timeit has been
engineered to meet various international safety andemissions standards. A right-hand-drive version is being
offered for thefirst time, for the United Kingdom and Australia, and Ford will marketthe car more heavily
overseas.Chief engineer Dave Pericak said that while the design meets international needs, it wasn’t
influenced by them."We did not design a global Mustang. We designed a Mustang and took it global,"
Pericak said.Evenwith Ford’s push, overseas sales will likely be modest, said StephanieBrinley, an auto
analyst with the consulting company IHS. IHS forecastsEuropean Mustang sales will triple from current levels
to around 2,500in 2015, while sales in China will likely remain low because two-doorcoupes aren’t popular
there.Coupes, in fact, make up less than 1percent of sales annually across the globe, Brinley said. But
they’restill an important car for automakers to have."It’s an aspirational body style. It signals a
sporty drive and a sexier product," she said.Driverswill have three engines to choose from: updated
versions of the current3.7-liter V6, which gets a projected 300 horsepower, and 5.0-liter V8,with 420
horsepower, as well as a new 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinderthat gets a projected 305 horsepower. Ford will
also offer updatedsix-speed manual and automatic transmissions. Final numbers forhorsepower and fuel economy
will be released later.The car sitson the Mustang’s first independent rear suspension, which should
improvehandling because it lets the wheels operate independently.Inside,new options include blind-spot
detection and toggle switches thatadjust the steering, stability control and other settings depending onthe
road conditions. The interior also has nicer materials, with brushedaluminum replacing painted plastics.Ford
isn’t saying how muchthe new Mustang will cost, but the current one starts around $23,000. Aconvertible
version will also be offered.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.