Ford Motor Company's Most Insane Vehicle Yet Will Also Be Its Most Expensive Ride Ever

There's little question that Ford Motor Company's recently unveiled 2017 GT is awesome, insanely awesome, even. In fact, when it rolled out at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January, jaws dropped and the supercar stole the show. It boasts more than 600 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 and is easily one of the world's most impressive rides.

Ford's 2017 GT. Source: Ford Motor Company.

Its awesomeness is only matched by its insane price tag. Ford's performance division announced that the supercar would start around a staggering $400,000 -- about four times as much as anyone outside of Ford expected. That price tag means Ford is essentially aiming its GT to compete with the likes of a Lamborghini Aventador, which is practically unheard of for the mainstream brand based out of Dearborn.

While the GT will set you back nearly a cool half-million dollars, at least you won't have to wait in a long line. Ford plans on putting the car -- which is built mostly by hand -- into production next year, and only intends on building about 250 units.

Ford's 2017 GT. Source: Ford Motor Company.

If you do the math, Ford's GT is expected to generate roughly $100 million for the automaker, but that's a drop in the bucket: Ford churned out $144 in revenue last year. However, that doesn't mean that the vehicle isn't valuable to Ford investors.

"The GT is the ultimate execution of an enthusiast supercar," said Raj Nair, group vice president of Ford Global Product Development. "GT includes innovations and technologies that can be applied broadly across Ford's future product portfolio -- another proof point that Ford continues raising the performance bar while ultimately improving vehicles for all of our customers."

Not only will the innovative designs and parts created for the GT trickle down to the rest of Ford's vehicle lineup, but the GT will also give professional and daily performance enthusiast drivers a chance to show off a Ford vehicle. Historically, those types of drivers have a wide influence on mainstream consumers, and that bodes really well for Ford's new performance division, which will launch more than 12 new vehicles through 2020.

Ford's recent move into designing more performance vehicles comes at a great time, as the company notes that sales in the category are up 70% in the U.S. and 14% in Europe since 2009, which outpaces the growth of the overall industry.

Furthermore, Ford's performance vehicles have succeeded in accomplishing two very valuable things: luring younger millennials and conquering competitors' consumers. Consider that Ford's existing performance vehicles, more specifically the ST lineup, has more than 65% of their U.S. buyers coming from outside the Ford brand -- a huge win. Also, millennials, who TrueCar projects will purchase roughly 4.24 million of this year's estimated 17 million new cars, are purchasing Ford's ST vehicles at a rate twice that of other Ford vehicles.

Essentially, these performance vehicles are going to attract the future bloodline of new car sales and help spur innovation across Ford's mainstream vehicle lineup. And while Ford's GT is priced for insanity and will probably never be parked in your garage (or mine), its mere existence is very valuable for Ford and its investors.

The article Ford Motor Company's Most Insane Vehicle Yet Will Also Be Its Most Expensive Ride Ever originally appeared on Fool.com.

Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Ford. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.