For the fourth month in a row, Chevrolet sold more Camaros than Ford did Mustangs. With 9,961 Camaros finding new homes last month compared to 6,564 Mustangs, the Camaro was able to scamper ahead of the Mustang by 5,900 units for total 2014 sales. Chevrolet’s seven month total of 56,633 Camaros sold represents a 12 percent gain in sales over the same time period last year. The Dodge Challenger remains a footnote in the pony car wars, with a mere 4,294 units sold in July.
While Mustang sales have been on the decline, the soon-to-be released 2015 Mustang should help Ford move more metal in the remaining months of 2014. Despite a new Mustang hitting dealers, it is likely that the the Camaro will once again take the title of America’s bestselling sports car given its current overall sales lead.
Though Chevrolet may ultimately win the sales war for 2014, we fully expect the Mustang to win some of 2014’s remaining sales battles; however, interest in the new Mustang may be short-lived, as a new Alpha-based Camaro is expected to arrive for 2016.
Comments
Is this really a surprise. Who in their right mind would purchase a car that so outdated when a new platform is just months away. I am surprised Ford sold any units and the ones that went out of the showrooms must have been heavily discounted. I am not discounting the value of the Camaro, but let the GM dealers rack up the sales now because when the new Mustang comes to market, the number of units sold could be reversed. There is a lot of pent up demand.
Well with as many people complaining about the new car I would think there would be some decent sales at the discounted price.
Supply would be my guess as to why sales are off. We saw that with the Tahoe just recently as sales tanked but there were so few on dealer lots and none being built at the plants with the change over.
You have to consider many things in play here but I suspect the supply to get just what you want has hurt them more than anything in many areas.
I know even dealer trades this time of year can be difficult with the change over. When I bought my last car this time of years we searched out from Ohio to GA for the correct interior with the Red. I then had to go with black as none were to be found. If I had waited it would have cost me the price increase for the same thing.
You also have to take into account that the S197 ceased production not too long ago. I dont really care about sales figures at this point, as a Ford fan, im suprised that the 9 year old S197 is still selling… Camaro has had a 4 year life cycle (2010) which is less than half the life cycle of the current Mustang, Im not suprised its still selling. And the 2015 Mustang is very promising. People are warming to the design and perception has been pretty favorable, even at Mustang week. Im going to bet its going to sell well and give the Camaro competition. But of course GM doesnt want to be left behind so the next Camaro will either be rushed, or be somewhat of a copy of the new Mustang (optional 4cyl, More modern corporate design, relatively similar to previous gen).
im actually let down by the next mustang. the 5.0 did not get as much power as hoped, there was no weight reduction, in fact oposite of that and the interior has little to no change in many regards. it is simply catching up to the current camaro. the next gen camaro will have no problem beating it
It is not a surprise the old Mustang is selling well. The Mustang is like Coke and people will buy it no matter what because it is a very popular model new or old.
The New Camaro is not any where to being rushed to market as it has been in the works since the inception of the Alpha Program back around 08-09. If anything the new Camaro is a year behind as it was originally targeted at 15 to match the Mustang but they were willing to slow it done some since the present car is selling well and they want to get it right.
As for the 4 cylinder Al Oppenhieser has stated that GM is leaving the 4 cylinder to Ford and the Camaro will only have a V6 and V8. Many take this as a sign that GM may present a sub Alpha RWD car with a Turbo 4 to not take the fire from the Camaro and to give GM a new smaller sporty car to market on it’s own. This would be a good move marketing wise as two cars can do the job much better than trying to spread one car thin over two segments.
But the smaller car has yet to be approved from what anyone has heard and all this could change. The Subaru and Toyota sales have not been what they expected and both cars are looking for a refresh already.
The new Camaro will be all new and while it will not be mistaken for anything else it will differ much more than some expect. It will be lower and shorter but the wheel base will be similar. The weight will drop at least 400-500 pounds with the V6.
As for the new Mustang I think it is one of the best they have done. The styling for once does not look cheap and abbreviated. It has a full finished flowing look about it. It has a much better refined look.
It will sell well as any new car like this is polarizing as half love it, half does not want to change it and in the end 90% end up loving it. We just saw this with the C7.
The one thing I think GM will have as an advantage here is the development money sunk into the Alpha before Chevy got it. If Chevy had been first this platform would have had limited funding. With Cadillac on board it will give even more added development money into the car to make a better more refined car. This should not be taken lightly as it will make a big difference. Today the Impala is a much better car because of the money Cadillac invested into the platform for the XTS. That money made the Impala a much better car in quiet, ride and state of suspension tuning. Chevy would have never had the budget to have made these improvements on their own.
The new Mustang will spike sales for the next year and GM will be hanging around close. Then their new car will hit and both will duke it out on level ground. Both will do fine and I suspect the Camaro may have an advantage as the little things GM will do will give it an edge.
The real challenge will be global sales. Both cars are known and both have a following but both are look at as being somewhat unrefined. Just see any Top Gear review. They love the performance but the ride and noise are not of the GT cars they are used to having. It will be interesting to see how both make this work for other markets.
As for the Challanger Dodge has real issues. It will be 2018-2019 before they get a new car. Then when they change it just where will they take it. The Hellcat is a wonderful engine but the package it is in just is not able to use it all effectively. Yes it is fast but it is not as fast as it could or should be with that much power. The engine management system are only using some of that power as it would never hook up other wise.
GM has shown they can do the complete package with the Z/28 and Ford has shown their intentions with the Boss. I expect both will have much more complete packages at all price levels with the new cars. These cars are more than drag cars anymore and need to do it all. Besides there is no excuse for a car that cost that much only being one dimensional.
I agree with much f what you said. But when it comes to Top Gear, or any of the euro mags, I really don’t care what they think (Biggest Top Gear UK fan ever – in fact it is the ONLY TG to me) about our pony/muscle cars.
They don’t get and will never appreciate the Camaro, Challenger, or Mustang for what they are. 1: because they cost too much when imported over there. 2: the average Joe in Europe simply ca’t afford one let alone operate one even if it was as cheap as it is in the states. In short; the cars are NOT for European consumption and do not fit in with their needs nor sensibilities. I don’t know why they even bother to ship them there.
Let the rich “Americana fanatics” import them on their own. Who knows, it may actually be cheaper. Lord knows they are the only ones buying them.
This is the issue.
I have never been a Porsche fan and never understood why people were so crazy for them…. and then I drove a 911 Carrera up the PCH from San Diego to San Fran and back to SD.
it was an 80 air cooled model before all the gimmicks and while today I am still not a 911 fan I get it.
the 911 taught me driving refinement that I never found in an American car till the last few years. A well tuned car is not always going to be the one with the highest G on the skid pad but it is the one with the shocks, springs and tires all matched the best to work together in the real world.
What I am saying is it was a car I could take down any uneven back road in America and take it to near the limit and not have to work hard to get there.
Today we see that in the Corvette where the C4 you had high limits but you had to work your ass off to reach them. The C7 today can go to the limit and you really do not have to work hard to get there. It makes going fast easy.
Now in the So called Pony cars they all have had high limits but most have never been easy to reach till the Z/28 and the Boss.
Also there has been issues of refinement in other areas. How many failed Gen 4 F body window lifts or the failure of cheap trim on the Mustang too.
The fact is the Camaro and Mustang have for a long time have been in need of a complete package. Scott Settlemire the F body past manager said they always put the money in the suspension and engine and always ran out in the interior. The 5 Gen improved here but there is still room for improvement in this price segment. The Mustang still suffers from the cheap interior and I hope they have fixed this in the new car.
The Camaro is close and I have high hopes with the refinement money that Cadillac has spent on the Alpha that it will let Chevy spend more on the other areas that they can refine and make the Camaro an no excuse car that is a complete package.
I will be so bold to state I have high expectations for the new Camaro It will be for once like the C7 that seals the deal on being all it can be and not leave anything on the table.
Like the criticism or not {And I hate it too] but the truth hurts those closest to these cars as love is blind. I see it in other cars too. Hell I have been involved with the Fiero groups for years and so many there think the Fiero is a equal of the 458 Ferrari. I can get them riled up when I tell them that if they think that they have never driven a good car. My Fiero is fun to drive but It is far from the best handling car in the world. Talk about high limits but you have to work to reach them drive a Fiero. I even have the Herb Adams VSE suspension on mine and I still have to work hard for a clean lap as the front and rear suspension like to work in different zip codes. Lots of bump steer.
The cold hard truth is for cars like this to survive and thrive they will need to increase in volume in a global market. GM will not continue these cars with out a lot of help form other platforms and want to sell in numbers smaller than 100K in volume.
The development cost are through the roof and many cars under 100K units are now looking for partners to share cost. Just look at the Miata and other sport coupes like the Toyota and Subaru sharing their platforms with others. BMW and Toyota are now sharing too.
GM on the other hand has a strong global presents and can leverage this car out to a global market.
The fact is GM can make money on this car not just in Europe but also in Australia, China, Korea and a lot of money in the Middle East. Even in Russia there is a lot of money to be made as Ford has found with the present Mustang.
Keep in mind too the higher the volume the more investment these car will see and the better the cars will be and help control the prices more vs. less cars sold.
You have to factor with the emotional side of this the economic realities of todays markets. Few companies can go it alone anymore. That is why you see for working with GM on transmissions and BMW working with Toyota on many projects. Look for Honda soon to partner with someone as they have really struggled with development cost.
Lets face it VW looking to buy Fiat is not because Fiat is in a good place right now financially and if you look at the slow development of new models at Chrysler it is only a symptom of a greater problem.
The Camaro and Mustang are profitable but they can be even more so and we will see their global profile expanded to take advantage of it.
This is really no surprise; after looking around for a convertible Mustang it is easy to see that dealer stocks are pretty picked over. Anyone looking for something specific in a Mustang (most Mustang buyers) will either have to wait, or get lucky with the few that are left in stock.
total sales from 65 to 02.
Year: Mustang/Camaro
64:*121,583/NA
65: 559,451/NA
66: 607,568/NA
67: 474,121/*220,906
68: 317,404/ 235,147
68: 299,824/ 243,065
69: 299,824/ 243,065
70: 190,727/ 124,901
71:*149,678/*114,630
72: 125,093/ 114,630 (not a typo!)
73: 134,867/ 96,751
74:*385,993/ 151,008
75: 188,575/ 145,770
76: 187,567/ 182,959
77: 153,173/ 218,858
78: 192,410/ 272,631
79:*369,936/ 282,571
80: 271,322/ 152,005
81: 181,552/ 126,139
82: 130,418/*189,747
83: 120,873/ 154,318
84: 135,678/ 261,591
85: 156,514/ 180,018
86: 224,410/ 192,219
87: 159,145/ 137,760
88: 211,225/ 96,275
89: 209,769/ 110,850
90: 128,189/ 35,048
91: 98,737/ 101,316
92: 79,280/ 70,712
93: 114,228/ *39,755
94:*123,198/ 119,934
95: 185,986/ 122,844
96: 126,483/ 66,827
97: 100,254/ 95,812
98: 170,642/ 77,198
99: 126,067/ 42,098
00: 218,525/ 45,417
01: 155,162/ 29,009
(01 production stopped May 2001. 2002 had a lengthy run))
02: (not yet released) Camaro still has a lot of catching up to do in the aggregate. and total s197 sales are over 1 million. Mustangs generally always sell better than any other muscle car. the proof is on the road every time i drive.