It only took a week for the First Edition models of the Mach-E to drop off the U.S. reservation page, signaling that the Mach-E First Edition is, essentially, sold out. Now, it looks like Ford has actually decided the Mustang name should be a “Performance sub-brand.” You better buckle in, folks, this is going to be an interesting ride.

Ford Wants to Bank on the Mustang Name

Ford started out working on a different EV project, but when approval to use the Mustang name was given, some radical changes were made. Based on the general reception of the Mach-E that’s probably a good thing. Can you image an SUV that looks like the EcoSport or Escape baring the Mustang name? There would probably be riots in the streets. The Mach-E, on the other hand, doesn’t even sport a Blue oval badge with Ford’s logo on it. Instead, it features a reworked version of the pony badge – something that quite possibly serves as our first hint at the Mustang sub-brand. Remember, this is the first time in 55 years that the Mustang name has appeared on an SUV.

In an interview with Autocar, Ford’s European Chief of Design, Murat Gueler, expanded on the idea of a Mustang sub-brand even more.

And, the previously mentioned and reworked Pony logo is part of that as well. The whole point of it was to strengthen the Mach-E’s bond to the Mustang name and “communicate the newness.” But he also went on to say that “we’ve talked about building a family.”

Will the Mustang Sub-Brand End Up Being a Bunch of SUVs?

I wouldn’t expect to see any gas-powered models fall under that sub-brand, and I’m guessing that the Mustang pony car will live on wearing a blue oval badge. In fact, Gueler went on to discuss electrification of the Mustang name:

“The latest Mustang in Europe has gained another level of popularity, so we have a bigger base for the Mustang brand. The Mustang and the Porsche 911 are the most famous sports cars on the planet. Mustang is a big nameplate, and it’s about time we applied electrification to it.” He continued, “People now understand we can do different things to different nameplates quite successfully.”

You can expect there to be a bunch of SUVs, but Ford remains adamant that it won’t follow the Audi, Russian doll approach and have a bunch of different sized models that look the same. “We don’t want to take a Russian doll approach, where you can’t tell them apart other than the size of the car, but we want a family feel where a Ford EV starts to build off this concept.”

He went on to cast a little bit of shade on a smaller vehicle saying that Ford would probably never go for something smaller than the Mach-E. And, if it did, that model would feature completely different proportions. Perhaps that four-door Sedan Mustang we’ve all been speculating on for the better part of 10 years? Drop the Ford fusion from Ford’s lineup and reinvent what was the fusion with a lot of Mustang and Mach-E DNA? That sounds about right to me. If we’re going to live in a world with a Mustang sub-brand, it at least has to be done right.