Ford NZ adamant cars spotted at Auckland wharf are grey imports, not official evaluation units.

THOUGHT Ford New Zealand has corralled several Mustang Mach-Es for local evaluation has been firmly quashed by the brand.

Several examples of Ford’s first fully electric car, including the vehicle seen here, are believed by the local distributor to be the first Mach Es in New Zealand.

The vehicles were snapped fresh from being unloaded from a car carrier in Auckland this week.

Ford NZ believes the right-hand drive units are grey imports destined to a Canterbury seller who has been notifying, including with Ford-developed promotional footage, intent to secure examples of the performance sports utility from the United Kingdom.

Brand communications manager Tom Clancy became aware of the images just today.

He said he could categorically say the cars are not for the New Zealand distributor.

“It is definitely not a Ford NZ car.

“I wish they were, because we would love to see it, but there are not ours.

“It would be great if it was ours … I would love that.”

Ford NZ does not have an evaluation programme planned, he added, because it does not yet know when product will be officially available.

It maintains that overseas supply and demand issues are still forcing the all-electric thoroughbred away from local showrooms and there is no indication on when production might free up for a local launch.

Unveiled globally in late 2019, and launched in the United States, Europe and the UK in 2020, the Mustang Mach-E is designed to rival the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Volkswagen ID.4.

Overseas buyers can choose from a range of rear- and all-wheel-drive powertrains, from versions with 98.4kWh battery packs capable of 610km driving ranges (according to Europe’s WLTP test cycle), to the range-topping, all-paw GT, good for 358kW/860Nm outputs and 3.7-second 0-100kmh sprint time.

Ford NZ earlier this week reiterated plans to launch at least five plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles by 2025, the latest being the E-Transit Custom electric van, set for 2024 local availability.