Ford CEO Jim Farley wants to turn the company into “the Porsche of off-road.” What does that actually mean? Well, that plan might start with the latest concept Farley floated to reporters: An off-road Raptor supercar, not based on any existing Ford model.
Farley laid out the idea when speaking to Top Gear, though he didn’t go into specifics about what such a vehicle might look like. He did imply, though, that such a vehicle was actually in the works — at least in some stage. From Top Gear:
“We’re in the middle of creating something, so we don’t have all the answers yet, but the question is should Ford make an off-road supercar? Not a version of a car, a standalone supercar,” Farley told us at the Ford Performance launch event in Charlotte.
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“That’s what we’re trying to answer. What do we do on a utility car? Is there a supercar? That’s what we’re debating now,” he added.
We asked the same question to Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, now responsible for both motorsport and the performance car division. “The mission of Ford Performance is to have as much motorsport as possible infused into the products that people can buy. We love that we have an F-150, Bronco and Ranger Raptor but we can do more.
“Yes, the Raptor T1+ at Dakar represents the ultimate Raptor in many ways, and we’re learning a lot from that both in terms of the competition but also in terms of feedback from customers, so all I can say is stay tuned…”
It’s possible that “competition” means the recent wave of off-road performance vehicles, like the Huracan Sterrato and 911 Dakar genre of off-road supercar. Top Gear, though, predicted something a bit more trophy truck-like to mirror the company’s Raptor T1+ Dakar competitor. Regardless of its exact spec, though, whatever concept Ford comes up with here ought to be an interesting one — so long as we still have an auto industry to build it.