Ford wants to keep building V8s forever

Good news V8 fans: Ford’s global boss says his company will keep building eight-cylinder engines for as long as it possibly can.

At a time when most brands are moving away from big-old-school engines — Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, AMG and Nissan are all culling their V8s — you could forgive Ford for also caving to ever tightening emissions regulations.

But Ford’s V8-loving global CEO, Jim Farley, is having none it, stating he wants Ford to continue with the V8 for a long time yet.

“Mustang is going to celebrate its 60th anniversary coming up here,” he said. “A lot of our competitors have left. They’ve come and gone. We never did that. We’ve always been there with Mustang.

“Sixty years, and it’s changed over time. We have EcoBoost, we have the Dark Horse now, and we’re going to continue to invest. And if we’re the only one on the planet making a V8 affordable sports car for everyone in the world, so be it.”

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Farley was speaking at the launch event for Ford Performance’s racing season in Charlotte, North Carolina, so connecting the brand’s racing success — which is mostly propelled by V8 engines — to its future road cars makes sense, yet we love the sentiment. The news Ford will continue to invest in combustion engines is encouraging, too.

Farley also added that the Mach-E, which controversially carries the Mustang name, also plays a role in allowing Ford to invest in future V8s.

“Mach-E lets us sell ICE vehicles for a long time to come,” said Farley.

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Australia is doing its bit to help with the V8’s longevity, too. In 2023, we bought 1337 V8 Mustangs compared with just 138 examples powered by the 2.3-litre Ecoboost four-cylinder.

Only time will tell how long Ford will actually keep building V8s, of course, but for now join us in applauding Farley’s stance.