Will 2023 Mustang be redesigned?

Model Preview

The Ford Mustang is an American icon and a perennial favorite in the sport coupe category. The 2023 Mustang is a carryover model from the 2022 model year, with a major redesign on the way for the 2024 model year.

The current Mustang follows the classic shape that we’ve seen from all Mustangs since the major “retro” style redesign of 2005. It has a large hood with vents, angry-looking headlights, a wide stance, and throwback three vertical taillights. Inside there are more retro design cues, but the standard gauges can be swapped out for a digital instrument cluster. There are enough seats for four people, but the rear is extremely cramped and may result in a loss of feeling in the legs of adults after a long enough drive.

The 2023 Mustang will likely keep the same stable of engines as the current model year. Base models receive a 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 310 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, but the High Performance Package increases power to 332 horsepower. GT models receive the classic 5.0-liter V8 with 450 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque, while the Mach 1 gets an extra 20 horsepower out of the same engine. At the top of the Mustang trim level hierarchy is the Shelby GT500, which gets a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 that puts out an insane 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque.

The current Mustang is pretty safe for a sports car, with standard active safety features like automatic emergency braking, active lane control, automatic high beams, and blind-spot monitoring, while features like adaptive cruise control and parking sensors are optional. In terms of crash testing, NHTSA has given the Mustang a five-star rating while IIHS labeled it “Good” in all areas except the small-overlap test, where the vehicle only managed to achieve an “Acceptable” score.

Pricing & Release Date

Production for the 2023 Mustang is set to begin on November 28th, and order banks are already open. However, this may be pushed back due to the well-publicized chip shortage that is affecting the auto industry. A 2024 Mustang redesign will go on sale next year, offering a new high-performance model called the Mustang Dark Horse.

2023 Mustang pricing starts at $27,770 for the base EcoBoost model and ranges up to $55,570 for the Mach 1. Shelby GT500 pricing has yet to be announced.

The Ford Mustang has direct competitors in the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, and the 2023 Nissan Z.

More details will be added to this page as they come out.

Pictured: 2022 Ford Mustang

Features

What looks new with the new-look Mustang?

18 Sep 2022

Ever since the Fairlane-based first-generation Ford Mustang's game-changing grand debut at the New York World's Fair of 1964, whenever a new Ford Mustang comes along, it's a big deal.

With the covers whipped off the seventh-generation 2023 Mustang's for the first time just days ago, and the outgoing S550 Mustang having been on the market since 2014, expect this fresh new face from Ford to grow very familiar over the immediate future before it's eventually replaced with a next-generation vehicle (V8 will remain if demand is there, says Ford CEO Jim Farley).

While Ford's original pony car of the ‘60s launched into the baby boomer generation during a period of significant post-war economic expansion, ostensibly inventing its own vehicle segment for many first-time recreational sports car buyers, the 2023 Mustang targets a much younger demographic faced with a crowded, and globalised, sports car segment with a heavier emphasis on modern, inoffensive styling and technology.

The outgoing generation of Mustang is of particular Australian pertinence, having ruled the roost as Australia's best-selling sports car ever since it first lobbed onto the scene. Ford Australia previously offered a limited production special 2001 Ford Mustang Cobra 'officially converted' by Tickford, but the sixth-gen S550 was the first factory-produced Mustang in history.

It's an immensely popular car the instant local success of which was unforeseen even by Ford Australia. The new one will have to impress.

Read on below as we breakdown all the ways the new-look Mustang looks new.

Exterior

Ford's taken a cautionary approach to 2023 Mustang, and looks about how you'd expect a modern facelift of the outgoing Mustang would look.

The front end now boasts a sharper horizontal leading edge, lending to the illusion of width and a lower bonnet.

The new grille is larger, with a less bottom-weighted profile than the outgoing S550. The more symmetrical anchor points of the new grille evoke the softer curves of the original ‘60s Mustang. The headlights, like all new cars, are thinner.

At the rear, the tri-bar tail-lights mimic that of the US-only Mustang Mach-E, with the current car's blacked out rear valance replaced with body colour paint. The integrated rear diffuser has also been reprofiled to visually swallow more bumper real estate.

The new rear haunches have been dramatically blistered, giving the whole rear quarter view an edgy, almost Cyberpunk-like vibe.

Four-cylinder turbo Mustangs and V8 GTs can be newly distinguished by the GT's more aggressive grille, bonnet vents and distinct front splitter.

Interior

The interior of the 2023 Ford Mustang makes more divergent strides from the familiar Mustang we know and love.

The cockpit-inspired cabin is headlined by a new 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster that seamlessly flows into the driver-oriented 13.2-inch central touchscreen. The new Mustang also introduces Ford's latest Sync4 operating system

For us nerds out there, the graphics on the digital instrument cluster are powered by video game developer Epic's Unreal Engine, just like Fortnite, Gears 5 and Borderlands 3.

The seventh-gen Mustang introduces a new flat-bottomed steering wheel with an octagonal centre pad, though with largely similar button layouts.

The existing Mustang's three central air vents have been replaced by two larger horizontal units mounted below the central touchscreen, with a redesigned HVAC interface sitting atop similarly-placed USB ports, 12v plug and a redesigned mobile phone charger.

The 2023 Mustang also brings added active safety features as part of Ford's newest CoPilot360 suite, including: Intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, evasive steer assist and reverse brake assist.

Active Pothole Mitigation comes part of the US Performance Package, and enables the car to monitor the road, detects incoming potholes, and dynamically overdamps the system, effectively 'catching' the wheel before suspension travel allows it to fall into the hole.

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