DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford will open up distribution and sales of the new 2007 Shelby GT500 to all of its U.S. dealers as it winds down its SVT program.

Previously, sales of SVT models were limited to about 600 certified Ford dealers. A report that Ford will let all its dealers sell SVT vehicles, including the Shelby GT500, was carried in Monday’s issue of Automotive News, the trade weekly, which cited as its source an e-mail to dealers from Darryl Hazel, president of Ford’s customer service division.

Inside Line first reported the imminent death of the SVT program earlier this month.
Ford earlier this year canceled what was to have been the next SVT product — the 2007 Sport Trac Adrenalin — as part of the company’s latest restructuring program. It has canceled other SVT programs as well, including a proposed successor to the F-150 Lightning pickup.

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