The next-generation Ford Mustang is expected to arrive in 2021 and according to the latest reports, the next Mustang could share its platform with the new Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator.

2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350

Today the Ford Mustang rides on its own rear-wheel drive platform, but the next-generation Mustang could switch to one of Ford’s five new modular platforms. The highest possibility is that the Mustang will share the rear- and all-wheel drive platform that will underpin the next Explorer. This would not only simplify production, but also open the possibility of an all-wheel drive Mustang that would compete with the all-wheel drive Dodge Challenger.

“Mustang is still going to be a strong, well proportioned vehicle,” Mustang’s chief designer, Darrell Behmer recently told Automotive News. “The modular architectures will still give us flexibility; it’s not going to bastardize Mustang.”

Even if the Mustang does end up sharing its platform with the Explorer, Ford feels that it won’t hurt it.

“The general layout of rwd has morphed over time, but it’s still the general architecture that it has been,” stated Carl Widmann, the Mustang’s chief engineer. “In the architecture world of a rwd — which you’re going to end up with a rwd architecture — I think these pieces of it are pieces that will always work. As you tune it and put a top hat on it, you can get different combinations and can define a lot of the emotion.”

Source: Automotive News