Can “Need for Speed” Boost Mustang Sales?

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Mar 17, 6:41AM EDT

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The film “Need for Speed” posted poor first weekend ticket sales of just $17.8 million, which was a disappointment given the huge public relations and marketing effort put into the release. “Need for Speed” was bested by “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” which brought in $21.2 million, and the Spartan film “300: Rise of an Empire” at $19.1 million. However, there may have been one winner based on the launch of “Need for Speed” — the movie’s real star, the Ford Mustang.

“Need for Speed” cost $66.6 million to make, according to Entertainment Weekly. From the standpoint of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), its studio, the expected blockbuster will not be a blockbuster at all. However, to help offset these costs Ford probably paid for the exposure of the Mustang. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) bragged about its role:

A lifelong fan of classic action film sequences, director Scott Waugh opted to film genuine car-to-car action rather than use computer-generated images in new “Need for Speed”

Seven modified 2014 Ford Mustangs were built for filming and promotion of “Need for Speed” in addition to an early prototype 2015 Mustang fastback

Supercharged 2013 Mustang GT used as a camera car for capturing on-the-road sequences

Ford could use some help. The launch of the “all-new Mustang” to celebrate the car’s 50th anniversary has gone off poorly. Only 6,410 Mustangs were sold in February, up a paltry 6.4%. This was not much better than the sales of rival GM’s Chevy Camaro, which sold 6,211 units last month.

Ford has already started to offer incentives for Mustang buyers. In some markets, this includes 0% financing for 48 months and a cash bonus of $1,000. Or, alternatively, the buyer can pass on this financing and get $3,000 in “cash back.” These are an unusual show of weakness for such a heavily promoted new model.

“Need for Speed” was a failure for Disney and the movie’s producers. Maybe, it will do a little better for Ford.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.