Every Ford vehicle is tested to extremes, covering hundreds of thousands of kilometres in the toughest of environments to ensure it can cope with anything life can throw at it.

But our vehicles are designed not just to survive, but to thrive in the real world. And that means conquering the greatest challenge of all — the roads of Europe. From winding alpine roads to cobblestoned streets, high-speed autobahns and icy Nordic roads, the diversity is unparalleled.

I’ve spent my career obsessed with the essence of a vehicle concept, and how that character and personality is expressed when you’re behind the wheel, but there is something uniquely challenging and beautiful about the landscape of this continent that is unmatched anywhere else on Earth.

Nowhere else on this planet can you throw a mix of asphalt, gravel, cobbles, ice and stone in your path, and all without crossing a border. Ribbons of roads draped across mountains and through valleys that demand precision, control and response from the car and the driver.

These roads challenge the very core of the vehicle, providing a constant stream of diverse sensory inputs that quickly separate the good from the great. The beauty of these roads demands that the sound of the vehicle augments the experience, not detracts from it, and communicates the right feedback to the driver in a way that you can simply focus on experiencing the drive.

“We are entering a new era where performance isn't just about straight-line speed; it’s about the joy of the curve, the confidence on the gravel, and the grit to handle whatever the road throws at you.”

Jim Baumbick, President, Ford in Europe

For some, these roads are a challenge to be avoided. For us, they are a calling. And it’s not until you test a car against this most complex of environments that you discover its true soul.

To conquer a rain-slicked hairpin turn or a cobbled street you need a vehicle that commands the surface rather than just reacting to it. You need a car that reminds you why you fell in love with driving in the first place.

And it’s this challenge that inspires us to be better engineers, better designers and better drivers. Europe has always been the ultimate test, and makes us better. This is why many of our global proving grounds simulate the roads of Europe to provide the toughest durability test.

At Ford we have always risen to this challenge — it is in our DNA. And we are back to doing what we love, and what I believe we do better than anyone else: creating vehicles capable of mastering the world’s most demanding roads.

I am incredibly proud to announce our new rally-bred range of passenger vehicles. These are machines designed and built specifically for Europe’s perfectly imperfect roads.

We’re taking the untamed spirit and soul of the Mustang ¹ and fusing it with the legendary, "go-anywhere" toughness of the Ranger Raptor. ² The result is a breed of vehicle that doesn’t just tolerate a gravel detour or a winding mountain ascent — it craves them.

We are entering a new era where performance isn't just about straight-line speed; it’s about the joy of the curve, the confidence on the gravel, and the grit to handle whatever the road throws at you.

These are the roads we love. These are the vehicles we love to build. And I can’t wait for you to see the result, to get behind the wheel and feel that connection for yourself.

See you on the road.

Jim Baumbick is President, Ford in Europe

¹ Mustang homologated CO₂ emissions 273-282 g/km and homologated fuel efficiency 12.0-12.4 l/100 km WLTP.

² Ford Ranger Raptor homologated CO₂ emissions 315 g/km WLTP, homologated fuel efficiency 13.8 l/100 km WLTP. The declared WLTP fuel/energy consumptions and CO₂-emissions are determined according to the technical requirements and specifications of the European Regulations (EC) 715/2007 and (EU) 2017/1151 as last amended. The applied standard test procedures enable comparison between different vehicle types and different manufacturers.