Last Saturday was the first day that European drivers could place their orders for the all-new Mustang from Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F). Ford even offers the new Mustang with a right-hand drive option for the United Kingdom. This marks the first time in the 50-year history of the Ford Mustang that it will be available for sale in Europe.

Ford received 9,300 applications for the first 500 Mustangs that will be available in Europe. The company launched its promotion for the Mustang at the start of the Champions League soccer final match and took 500 orders for the car in the first 30 seconds of the game.

Prices for the car have not been announced, but an entry-level Mustang is rumored to cost in the neighborhood of £30,000 (about $50,500). The United Kingdom is slated to receive 130 of the 500 Mustangs in the first batch going to Europe. The cars will be built in the United States and shipped to Europe.

The entry-level Mustang is expected to be priced competitively with the Nissan 370Z and well below such high-end competition as Porsche, BMW and Audi, among others.

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The Mustang and the recently introduced all-new 2015 version of the F-150 pickups are among the 16 new car launches the company plans for 2014.

The introduction of the Mustang into Europe is part of Ford’s strategy to go after higher-end buyers. The company is also dressing up some of its existing European models with leather seats and other enhancements that Ford hopes will appeal to more — and more well-heeled — buyers.

IHS Automotive has said that Ford’s European sales could rise by 25% to 1.65 million units by 2020. The wildly successful launch of the new Mustang must be encouraging for the company’s hopes.

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