In a study done in Tampa, FL, where there are more Mustangs on the road than any place else in the country, Ford Mustang’s chief engineer with his team of 40 key team members to study why people love Mustangs.
Ford holds yearly customer clinics on Mustangs through Ford's 6-Sigma Center. This study that looked at competitive-make owners also and this approach was a little different. The market research group did not reveal that they were Ford employees so that all the people interviewed would be as honest as possible.
The notion to include competitive-make owners was based on two reasons. One was to find out why they did not buy Mustangs. The other was to see if they had the same sense of pride in ownership that Mustang owners had.
Mustang owners, in general, were more proud of their cars than the competitive-make owners. Mustangs also tended to be impulse purchase, the team discovered. People interviewed tended to report that they just saw the car and wanted it.
In 2007, the Mustang led in three major consumer surveys carried out by J.D. Power & Associates. The Initial Quality Study, the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study, and the Vehicle Dependability Study all rated the Mustang as the top car in the mid-size Sporty Car segment.
The 2008 Mustang convertible is the first sports car and the first convertible that the U.S. government gave the highest possible safety ratings in new-car tests. The Mustang coupe got five stars in frontal crash tests for both driver and passenger and five stars in side impact for driver and in rollover tests.
