√Ford boss rules out Mustang Raptor, but an off-road supercar is under consideration

Ford’s global CEO has dismissed reports of a Mustang Raptor, but says a purpose-built supercar could join its family of high-performance off-roaders.

The global boss of Ford has shot down rumours of a high-performance off-road ‘Mustang Raptor’ – but has left the door open for a high-riding supercar to compete against Porsche and Lamborghini.

Last month, reports out og the US claimed Ford was considering a Mustang Raptor – a high-performance, off-road, all-wheel-drive variant of its iconic muscle car.

The report – published by Car and Driver – speculated the Mustang Raptor was planned to go into production.

However, in an interview with rival US publication Motor Trend earlier this week, global Ford CEO Jim Farley dismissed the Mustang Raptor report.

The Ford GT is the car-maker’s most recent supercar

Instead, the executive said, Ford’s next flagship off-road performance machine could be a “purpose-built supercar” – similar to recent high-riding sports cars such as the Porsche 911 Dakar and the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato.

“What would a (off-road) supercar look like? To me, it wouldn’t be converted from a passenger car – it would be a supercar which has been ground-up invented to be optimised,” Mr Farley said, speaking to Motor Trend editor Edward Loh.

“I think there’s going to be a segment like that. The signals from Porsche and Lamborghini are good.”

When asked about whether the off-road model’s supercar base would be similar to the Ford GT, Mr Farley replied: “No – all I’m saying is that I’m always looking for what’s next, as any good car leader should.”

It has been almost four decades since Ford last produced a high-performance off-road model – the RS200 – which was designed for the top tier of world rally competition.

Ford’s UK division produced approximately 140 examples of the turbocharged, mid-engined, all-wheel-drive RS200 between 1984 and 1986 – with deliveries split between racing teams and the general public for road use.

Ford’s most recent supercar – the second-generation GT – was also designed primarily for racing, though competition rules required road cars to be produced as well.

For now, Ford’s international Raptor family includes the F-150, Bronco, and Ranger – the latter of which is the only model from the line-up available in Australia.

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