Get Ready to Hear About the 2020 Ford Mustang All The Time for Three Years

Ford Motor Company, in a tremendously public product planning moment, revealed at the beginning of 2017 that the automaker would produce an F-150 Hybrid, Transit plug-in hybrid, and a Mustang Hybrid by 2020.

Then-CEO Mark Fields said at the time, “Ford is committed to being a leader in providing consumers with a broad range of electrified vehicles.” But now that Ford revealed plans for the 2020 Mustang Hybrid, the Blue Oval has a three-year gap in which to talk about a car that doesn’t yet exist.

How to talk about it now, three years prior to launch? Ford Canada is placing promoted ads on Twitter that are endlessly popping up in my feed.

The Mustang Hybrid is not shown. But the future earns a prominent mention.

For the Michigan-built 2020 Mustang Hybrid, Ford promises, “V8 power and even more low-end torque.” Not surprisingly, this early ad campaign for the Mustang emphasizes swiftness.

“0-100 Real Quick,” the silent five-second clip says, using the rough equivalent of 0-60 mph for a Canadian audience.

It’s not surprising that Ford would seek early on to condition its audience to connecting hybrid with speed. The vast majority of the car-buying public has not had direct exposure to hybrids, yet believes the green/eco/Prius nature of early hybrids instrinsically renders performance inadequate.

In fact, you can see that kind of response in many of the Twitter replies. “If I could ever afford one, it would only ever be a 5.0,” says @rjshea14.

“Um…. no,” @supergunner_49 succinctly responds.

“Mustangs should never be hybrids,” @jimduncan16 tells Ford.

Imagine your future with a Ford Mustang Hybrid. pic.twitter.com/ePrk3fGo5H

— Ford Canada (@FordCanada) June 23, 2017

Given the vast time span that must be traversed before the Mustang Hybrid appears, we asked Ford Canada whether this campaign was a subtle product announcement, perhaps an indication of a different timetable.

It isn’t. Rather, Ford is just beginning to move the needle. “The [Twitter] post is part of our Primary Brand Campaign developed to generate conversation around Ford’s innovation today and tomorrow,” Ford spokesperson Rosemarie Pao told TTAC. “The purpose of this specific post is to generate conversation of Ford’s future innovation related to electric vehicles, including the development of hybrid version of the iconic Mustang.”

Of course, with the Mustang Hybrid representing such a sea change for a car with so much history, we certainly don’t expect to see Ford limiting its Mustang Hybrid conversation efforts to a relatively subtle promoted ad on Twitter.

Ford’s marketers have three years to tell you about this car. And they will keep on telling.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.