Ford hasn’t built a sedan since the company discontinued the Fusion after the 2020 model year. At the time, the company said it was more or less out of the car game altogether in the U.S., having discontinued the Focus, Taurus, and other traditional cars in the years before. It made just one exception—the beloved Mustang would stick around.
But every pony car, coupe, or convertible would have just two doors and focus more on sport than family comfort.
That may be coming to an end. The news comes from an odd source: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But it connects with reports from last summer to hint that something surprising is coming.
Ford may build a 4-door Mustang.
In a filing last week, Ford started the process of patenting the phrase “Mach 4.”
That’s the same name the automaker attached to drawings of a 4-door Mustang shown to Ford dealers last summer. Dealers were sworn to secrecy about the future products Ford showed them, but a few spoke to the press anyway. They confirmed tentative plans for a Mustang-styled sedan.
Ford also buried a sketch of a 4-door Mustang in publicity materials it released when it debuted the current, seventh-generation Mustang. Automakers often tease fans and the press with little Easter eggs.
The project could well have ended there. However, a “Mach 4” patent hints that it didn’t. Ford uses the name “Mustang Mach-E” for an all-electric SUV with Mustang-inspired styling. Mustang Mach 4 would fit naturally on a Mustang sedan.
A patent filing doesn’t guarantee that a car is coming. Automakers patent ideas they never pursue all the time, from wacky ones (Tesla once applied for a patent for lasers that clean bugs off of windshields) to dystopian ones (like the self-driving Ford that repossesses itself if you’re late with a payment).
But with a patented name less than a year after drawings shown to dealers, the Mustang family sedan seems to be picking up steam.