I was at the news briefing today. Here’s the news story I just submitted to my editors.
Update, story is up:
https://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/ford-gt-demand-drives-up-ford-gt-supply/2100005944/
Ford GT Demand Drives Up Ford GT Supply
Ford will produce a total of 1,350 new Ford GTs between 2017 and 2022. The 647-horsepower, 216-mph supercar was originally slated for 500 units, but demand for the car quickly drove that number to 1,000. Today Ford committed to 1,350 total new Ford GT production units, with between 25 and 30 percent sold outside the U.S.
Ford’s Le Mans-winning supercar features a carbon fiber structure and a 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 engine mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Ford’s supplier, Multimatic, initially struggled to produce the GT at the rate of one a day in 2017. For 2018 the car’s production numbers are on target, at approximately 250 total units.
The Ford GT generated over 6,500 applications when order banks opened in April of 2016. That same year the Ford GT won Le Mans, 50 years to the day after Ford first won the endurance race with the GT40 in 1966.
The modern Ford GT is offered as a global product, with multiple units already delivered in Canada and Europe. Additional markets will receive units in the coming years, keeping total U.S. allocation around 1,000 units. Starting price is $500,000, with multiple configurations and custom colors offered to buyers. The Ford GT just won the IMSA GTLM manufacturers title for 2018. It will race again in 2019.