Ford has trademarked the Mach 4 nameplate in Australia, pointing to a more practical Mustang spinoff – and potentially a spiritual successor to the homegrown Falcon.
An application for ‘Mach 4’ was filed with IP Australia on February 25, 2025.
The name has been trademarked for “motor vehicles, namely gasoline and electric automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and their structural parts”.
On the same date, the name was also filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
We’ve contacted Ford Australia for confirmation the Mach 4 is coming here, though the vehicle has yet to be officially announced globally – let alone revealed.
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Current Ford Mustang range
Nevertheless, this is the latest indication a Mustang sedan – something never before offered by the Blue Oval – is indeed coming.
The original Mustang was a spinoff from the Falcon, though eventually the latter nameplate was retired in the US. It lived on in Australia until 2016, sticking with rear-wheel drive and combustion power until the end.
Ergo, should the Mach 4 be a sedan version of the rear-wheel drive, combustion-powered Mustang pony car, it would be a spiritual successor to the Falcon.
Sources told Automotive News last August that Ford executives – including CEO Jim Farley – revealed a four-door ‘coupe’ version of the Mustang at a dealer meeting in Las Vegas.
It was part of a quartet of new Mustang variants, including a jacked-up, Baja-ready model, a modified turbocharged four-cylinder edition, and a “high-performance” V8 convertible with a manual transmission.
Ford reportedly didn’t share launch timings for the vehicles, but dealers came away believing the company was seriously considering putting them into production.
The four-cylinder performance model has eventuated as the RTR – appearing to rule out the Mach 4 nameplate’s use on a hot turbo four-cylinder coupe – though the remaining three haven’t been revealed yet.
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Dodge Charger
Earlier in 2024, Mr Farley also appeared to hint a Mustang sedan was a possibility.
“We will never build a Mustang that isn’t a Mustang,” he told Autocar.
“For instance, there will never be room for a small, two-row Ford SUV with a Mustang badge stuck on it. But could we do other Mustang body forms – a four-door or whatever? I believe we could, as long as these models have all the performance and attitude of the original.”
A four-door Mustang could give Ford a rival to the new-generation Dodge Charger coupe and sedan, which replace the old Challenger coupe and Charger sedan.
With Ford saying it’s sticking with V8 power for its Mustang for as long as regulations permit it, a four-door model would still likely have that ace in the hole over the rival Dodge which doesn’t offer a bent-eight.
Even if the Mach 4 debuts with electric power, it would give Ford a rival to the electric Dodge Charger Daytona sedan.
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2005 Ford Mustang
Since production started in 1964, the Mustang has only ever been offered as a coupe, hatchback coupe or convertible.
Despite this, Ford has done mock-ups of other Mustang body styles over the years, including sedan and shooting brake versions of the first-generation model and even a wood-panelled wagon in the 1970s.
Ford Authority reported Ford created a full-scale model of a sedan version of the fifth-generation ‘S197’ Mustang – which was never officially sold in Australia – around 2005. However, a production version never eventuated.
Ford did expand the Mustang nameplate to a wildly different vehicle: the electric Mustang Mach-E crossover. However, it has continued to be sold alongside the more traditional Mustang pony car.
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Ford Mustang Mach-E and Mustang
The Blue Oval has been focusing on its ‘icon’ nameplates, with the Bronco name being applied not only to a reborn, rugged off-roader but also a mid-sized crossover.
Given Ford has already expanded the Mustang ‘corral’ with the Mach-E, it’s likely any production Mach 4 would also be marketed as a full-fledged member of this family.
However, Ford has only filed to protect the Mach 4 nameplate (no hyphen) locally and not Mustang Mach 4. That’s despite filings existing for both Mach-E and Mustang Mach-E.
Should the Mustang gain a sedan body style, it would be the only vehicle of this type in Ford’s US lineup.
Over the past several years, Ford has discontinued its Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and Taurus models there, all of which were offered as a sedan.
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Middle East-market Ford Taurus
If you want a Ford sedan, you need to go to China or the Middle East where the new-generation Mondeo/Taurus is sold.
The last time Ford offered a sedan in Australia was in 2018 with the Focus, while local production of the Falcon wrapped up in October 2016.
Even Ford’s luxury Lincoln brand no longer sells sedans in the US market, despite being known for four-door models like the Town Car and Continental. However, the Mondeo/Taurus has a luxurious Chinese-market cousin called the Lincoln Z.
Passenger cars in general are becoming harder to find in Ford’s global lineup. The Fiesta is dead, while the Focus is ending production this year.
MORE: Everything Ford Mustang
