2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0: Muscle Car Sales War

in miami its probably close to 48/47/5 camaro/mustang/challenger as far as i can tell. i do see plenty of mustang 'verts from rentals, but i'm not including those.

none are huge sellers, thats for sure!

i see more nissan 370z than all three combined, and that's shocking, given the lack of practicality.

i even see more bentley conti coupes than all three combined, but those have been for sale longer.

@ed124c says::
genesis coupes sell less than either camaro or mustang down here, fwiw.

In my awesome opinion.... The Camaro is the best combo of performance price and looks. The Challenger looks the baddest but is getting too much bad press for its heft. The Mustang is the best performer but the majority of the people who drive these cars I find never get close to exploring there handling prowess and prefer the cruise, park, polish and brag lifestyle when it comes to cars so the track performance is lost on them. Despite the superiority of the Mustang GT's performance #s in base trim it's a little pedestrian looking compared to the Camaro. My eyes love the Dodge, My head the Ford and the compromise is the Chevy. I am seriously thinking of buying A '13 Mustang Boss 302 in the spring. If the Z28 is a no show that is. Maybe my wish will come true for a sub 3500lb, 9/10 scale Challenger 392 ACR in 2013.

I think ed124c pretty much nailed it with the simplistic assessment. I would like the practicality of the Challenger, the weight/performance of the Mustang, with the looks of the Camaro if that were possible.

@ed124c:
genesis coupes sell less than either camaro or mustang down here, fwiw.

also (in miami):

bmw 3series coupes? they outsell all above mentioned, combined.
audi tt? challenger volume.
audi a5? about as many as the genesis.

@ed124c:
genesis coupes sell less than either camaro or mustang down here, fwiw.

also (in miami):

bmw 3series coupes? they outsell all above mentioned, combined.
audi tt? challenger volume.
audi a5? about as many as the genesis.

Mustangs are verminous...they are everywhere. The Camaro offers something new and different in styling. And ed is right...who wants to buy a POS Chrysler product?

One other reaso for the Dodge lagging; it's interior is boring compared to the Ford and the Camaro. Also, a base Challenger looks... base. the small wheel/tire package on the base cars looks weak compared to the base models of the other two. When Chrysler updates the interior and fits a brawnier wheel package, I could see Challenger sales perk up a bit. Ford and Chevy will still win however, if only by virtue of a larger dealer footprint.

Mustang (any trim) for me hands down. I just think it's a much better executed package any way you look at it. It's fairly light (compared to the Camaro/Challenger), the chassis seems to be more polished and the v8 is more sophisticated technically. In terms of styling the Camaro is more striking but I've grown tiresome of it. The Challenger is simply to bulky visually and physically. The Mustang (while the rear stylingis a bit generic) is my favorite overall as I like the proportions and it's styling overall isnt trying too hard like the Camaro.

The Camaro wasn't sold for 8 years until the reintroduction of the 2010 model. That's a lot of pent up buyers who are bow-tie fans who refused to buy a superior product in the Mustang...who cares that the Camaro is cartoony, has terrible sightlines out of the cabin, and has a bargain basement quality interior, not to mention lacks in performance compared to the Mustang.

The Challenger, well, you've got to spend 40k+ for one that comes close to, but still falls short of the performance of the other two. Not to mention, it's a bloated, poor-handling pig.

Mustang = driver's car of the bunch. Not flashy enough for many.

Challenger = my favorite, too, but probably too compromised and boat-like for many. Simply too big.

Camaro = outsells these two based on looks alone, and I know this because most Camaros I see are V6 models. Unique looks and excellent marketing (who can forget that scene in Transformers where the POS turns into Bumblebee) make a winner.

despite all being muscle cars, they all cater toward a different set. guys who buy challengers would never be caught dead in a camaro.

It's simple - the Camaro has become a fashion accessory for every little teenage girl in high school or just going into college. It stole that market that the Mustang used to have (among a few others).

"guys who buy challengers would never be caught dead in a camaro."

True. Tough to have a mullet when you're bald.

Style over substance...the americaan way. After driving a camaro on a track I cannot fathom why anyone would buy that car.

fordson1 says:

"True. Tough to have a mullet when you're bald."

Nope, old dudes have been pulling it off for years. It's called a "skullet". See David Crosby, Ronnie James Dio, Kelsey Grammer in old Cheers episodes (Woody Harrelson too) and pretty much any over-50 Vette or Harley owner for examples.

"The buying public has spoken"

Is this the same buying public that has the Camry as the best seller?
Just think about it.

Why?

Because everyone loves Transformers.

i can't fault anyone for buying a camaro in any trim but if it was my money i couldent do it. and this is coming from a chevy lover.

i thing the camaro is all about looks an image also the camaro is the most comfertable suspension wise for better or worse. also it has those humungous optional wheels that look incredible on this car.

the camaro has the hollywood factor going for it.

Having spent extensive time in a Camaro, I couldn't live with the interior from an ergonomics and aesthetics standpoint. The exterior is fine from every angle except the rear.

The best looking is the Challenger, but it needs to be 3/4 scale. Give me a ~3,500 lbs., 180"-length SRT-8 and I'll have a check in hand today.

So if I had to buy a modern muscle car, I guess the Mustang it is.

You can easily get a Challenger R/T for $32K, so I'm assuming the bulk of its sales lie with that model.

I test-drove the Camaro and came away unimpressed with the interior and, to a lesser extent, the handling. However, every time I encounter a Camaro on the street, I just HAVE to look. It just never fails. I believe the exterior is the only thing selling this car in such numbers. You can argue that it is overwrought or toylike, but to me, and apparently many others, it's an exuberant celebration of American style.

I think one of th reasons for the lower Challenger numbers is the Charger (to which the Challenger owes its existence). Both cars feel very similar from behind the wheel yet the Charger offers four doors and a bigger back seat. Much easier to convince the spouse to buy a 4 door family sedan than a mid-life crisis toy...

These cars are emotional purchases - styling sells. The Camaro is high on original style, the Mustang is familiar and the Challenger, well it just looks like a giant slab-sided bus. I bet more than half the buyers don't even know it's supposed to look like a blown-up version of the original.

If it were my money it'd go to the Mustang hands-down. Stupid rear axle and all.

I drove a new 2011 Camaro 2SS and although I thought it was fun to drive I could make it do what I wanted I was unimpressed by the detached handling. I just took out a new 2012 Camaro 2SS a week ago on the exact same twisty route and it was much crisper and more communicative in the turns. I don't know what they did to retune the suspension but I thought it felt much better. I really love the looks of the car despite it's shortcomings. After that drive I was back on the fence between it and the Mustang.

I think Edmunds should road test a 2012 Camaro SS to see if it has improved at all. Do it for America!

Ford has been on some strange production cycles with the Mustang the past couple of years that may impact your data too.. The 2012's started production in January of 2011, the 2011's began production on March of 2010.... In early 2011 there were not many of the MY "11" Mustangs left in inventory as Ford was already offering rebates on the 11's.

There are a few 2011 Camaro's and Challenger's remaining on dealer lots here in Oklahoma currently.

If you are looking at a single model year that is..

The Camaro still looks the best so that's why it still sells the best...

History of Mustang sales (rounded) starting with 2005.
2005: 161,000
2006: 166.000
2007: 134,000
2008: 91,000
2009: 66,000
2010: 73,000

Say what you want about the challenger, but if you guys don't remember it just tied in second place with the 911 with owner satisfaction. So it attracts a particular crowd.

Some people don't care about absolute performance, as 99% of all car owners will never even try to achieve them. So what the car does, it does it well.

I would've bought one if it had a stick like ed124c said. That's why I landed on the mustang. The camaro is such an abortion of ergonomics, I just couldn't have lived with it everyday.

So yes internet bench racers might not like the challenger, but people who buy them, love them.