The future of Ford - Telegraph The Ecosport is promised for Europe within 18 months, and we also heard promises of a version of the US-built Edge, a medium-sized SUV, which is unlikely to happen until the Edge is completely replaced in the States in a couple of years. And there was the undertaking that Ford will finally officially import its epochal pony car, the Mustang, into Europe, although a timetable for that wasn't exactly forthcoming. With recession-hit European sales down and showing little signs of stability, the business media has been speculating wildly about which Ford plants are facing the axe. The company has already stated that it sees reduced European sales as structural rather than cyclical with the factory closures that implies. "The most important thing we can do is recognise the reality and develop a plan to deal with it," said Alan Mulally, president and CEO. We are continuing to invest through the recession on new vehicles. Kremlin watchers will tell you that the PR strategy in such circumstances is to show the goodies first and then tell them the bad news. In Amsterdam we saw the goodies. It took Ford global design gadabout J Mays to explain just what "One Ford" actually means. "One Ford means appropriate for the global market," he said, "or at least multi-regional. So Focus, C-Max, Fiesta, Kuga, and the new Mondeo are appropriate for global markets, but there are exceptions. S-Max and Galaxy are not appropriate for US markets and looking the other way, it would be a brave man who suggested importing a full-sized F150 pickup truck to Europe from the States. The Mustang, however, is the exception that (dis-) proves the rule. This 2003 J Mays "retro-futurist" design (launched in 2005) has proved a big hit in the States, selling more than 750,000 in the six years to 2011. "It fits into the idea that we can sell globally," said Mays, "and there's such pent-up demand for the car. I promise it will still be a big US muscle car when it comes to Europe.