By Bill Koenig / Bloomberg News
Ford Motor Co., the world's second- largest automaker by sales, will develop high-powered, low-volume vehicles with designer Carroll Shelby as the company seeks to bolster the image of its cars and trucks.
Shelby, 80, developed the Ford GT40 race car in the 1960s and served as an adviser for the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker's new GT sports car, which is based on the GT40. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.
"There's a lot of good ideas" for future models, Chris Theodore, vice president for advanced product creation, said in an interview. "They will definitely be performance products. We're not talking about
200,000 to 300,000 unit volume."
Ford has made three of the GTs this year and plans regular production of about 1,000 of the cars next year. The automaker has said the GT, which will sell for more than $100,000, will help the image of its Ford brand. The company's U.S. market share fell 1.4 points to 18.3 percent in July from a year earlier.
With models such as the GT, Ford may be targeting middle-age consumers with disposable income and "not necessarily aiming at young people," said Alan Baum, director of forecasting at auto- industry consulting firm Planning Edge in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Patrick '93 Cobra