It has been confirmed that Ford will not sell the latest Mustang, the GT500, in Europe. Strict emissions regulations are cited as the cause. It had been expected that the GT500 might be made available to customers in Europe as the standard models were selling well and the GT500 experienced its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019 earlier this year.

The Ford Mustang GT500 will instead launch in North America, Mexico, and the Middle East. European customers will still be able to partake in the Ford Mustang Bullitt edition as its most powerful model. The news comes as a surprise due to the fact that the Mustang has proved so successful in Europe over recent years. Ford reports a 27% sales increase year-over-year in the first quarter.

Stricter targets will apply across the European Union from 2021 onwards, with a phase-in from 2020. From 2021, fleet-wide average emission target for new cars will be 95 g CO2/km which corresponds to a fuel consumption of around 4.1 l/100 km of petrol or 3.6 l/100 km of diesel. The GT500 will likely exceed these targets by quite a considerable amount!

Why? Under that front hood it features a 5.0 litre V8 engine, boosted by a supercharger to produce 760 horsepower and 625 lb.ft. of torque.