[Martinjlm]

Mach E being called a Mustang actually makes sense if you look at it from a portfolio management perspective.

Ford wants to expand the Mustang portfolio:
Evidence? They said it. So, if they intend to expand the Mustang portfolio that means adding something that does not exist today.

Options for Ford to expand Mustang portfolio:
Add a sedan. Something to compete with M3 (not M4) and M5. Maybe even Panamera or S7
Add a performance hybrid coupe
Add a performance EV coupe
Add an ICE performance CUV to compete with Macan, Trackhawk, AMG GLA45, X3M
Add a performance EV CUV

Selecting amongst the options
Sedans are a dying breed, luxury, performance, or otherwise. A few will be able to maintain a decent amount of volume, but there is little or no incentive to bring in a new one.

Performance hybrid coupe makes sense and is probably coming. Evidence? Ford has stated they will produce one. But in the short term, there is very little space in the portfolio for that. EBHP—>GT—>Bullitt—
>GT350–>GT500. Where does it fit? Trying to shoehorn it between any of these makes little sense until one of them <cough> Bullitt <cough> goes away. You’d be trying to sell a high cost / low margin vehicle side-by-side with an existing moderate cost / decent profit vehicle. That would be intentionally losing money.

A performance EV coupe makes sense long term, but in the short term, would Ford intentionally set up customers to compare between a just updated $65k GT350, a $75 - 100k GT500, and a [pick a number over $80k] performance EV coupe? No. If (when) a performance EV coupe appears, it will be after GT350 / GT500 have run their course. Food for thought....Ford has indicated that there may be a Shelby Mustang EV at some point. What they did not say was that the potential Shelby would definitely be a CUV. It could be a coupe. That appears after the current GT350 / GT500 are retired.

A performance EV CUV is actually the safe play for now. It sits in what we in the portfolio planning profession call “white space”. Meaning, if you draw up all the various types of vehicles currently available on a sheet of paper based on expected customer wants and needs, the part of the paper that has little or no entrants pencilled in is white space. Back when everybody had a cell phone and a laptop, Apple dropped the iPad into the white space.

Fast forward to 2030. Ford’s “Mustang portfolio” could look like this:
EcoBoost
5.0L GT
5.0L Hybrid Mach I (yeah, I said it)
Mach E CUV
Mach E GT CUV
Shelby GT500 EV Coupe

That’s my crystal ball.