The mustang also comes in an SUV format now in addition to the sports car format.

They're spinning Mustang off into a sub-brand, like Chrysler did for Imperial. We're set to get a Mustang "offroader" sometime in 2027, and there's rumblings of a mid-size CUV to slot below the full-size Mach-E. Marketing loves these rub-off schemes meant to give inferior or fledgling products some of the shine of a halo product. They almost always end up failing, and even when they don't they damage the halo products after the first round of releases using the shared name.

I think the marketing term is 'line extension'. It very rarely seems like a good idea. As you say, even if it makes money in the short term, it almost certainly loses money by damaging the brand in the long term.

Ah, but you admit there's a possibility of short term profit, and as you may know, that's what matters to decision makers.