Sales Numbers Q1 2020: Mustang vs Challenger and Camaro

[edco]

US MUSCLE CAR SALES

2020 Q1 / 2019 Q1 / % Change

Camaro 7,185 / 12,083 / -40%

Challenger 12,138 / 13, 431 / -10%

Mustang 18,069 / 16,917 / +6.8%

Mustang sales are a surprise. With the coronavirus national shut down
I was looking for the entire industry to be down 40%.
Mustang squeezed out an increase over 2019.
Not looking good at C6G City. Will coronavirus kill the Camaro?

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[Boss2013]

The Camaro was on life-support long before Covid-19 hit. The only reason it is still around is the only reason it ever came into existence in the first place: the Ford Mustang.

 

[BmacIL]

US MUSCLE CAR SALES

2020 Q1 / 2019 Q1 / % Change

Camaro 7,185 / 12,083 / -40%

Challenger 12,138 / 13, 431 / -10%

Mustang 18,069 / 16,917 / +6.8%

Mustang sales are a surprise. With the coronavirus national shut down
I was looking for the entire industry to be down 40%.
Mustang squeezed out an increase over 2019.
Not looking good at C6G City. Will coronavirus kill the Camaro?

Ugly + still terrible DD usability + COVID might kill it.

 

[B0N35]

I don't think you can consider coronavirus as a big factor... Q1 runs Jan-Mar and it didn't really shut things down until the week of 3/16, and even then it didn't stop many people from living life normally until last week when reality set in that jobs are at risk.

Just wait until the Q2 numbers come out.

 

[Sigma6]

Camaro would boost if you were sunken into the Frame of the body and could see out of the back. No one wants a Race Spotter cruising around town. Sadly chevy hasn’t took this into account. They set sail, it’s been heading down since.

 

[Weather Man]

Challenger and HP rebates just keep rolling along. Q2 will be Armageddon of course.

 

[Zinc03svt]

It is all going to be looked at seriously once we get out of the woods on this virus stuff guaranteed.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

US MUSCLE CAR SALES

2020 Q1 / 2019 Q1 / % Change

Camaro 7,185 / 12,083 / -40%

Challenger 12,138 / 13, 431 / -10%

Mustang 18,069 / 16,917 / +6.8%

Mustang sales are a surprise. With the coronavirus national shut down
I was looking for the entire industry to be down 40%.
Mustang squeezed out an increase over 2019.
Not looking good at C6G City. Will coronavirus kill the Camaro?

You're not going to see a large drop in the entire 1st qtr because the Coronavirus didn't really take full effect here in the US until mid March. Poor sales during the last two weeks of the qtr aren't going to cause the entire qtr to drop 40%. Year over year, however, for many manufacturers in March, was down big. That said, Camaro is down because Camaro, I guess. I don't know why its sales are so terrible in the first qtr. Especially considering the botched 2019 refresh...There's more going on there than just coronavirus. It's unfortunate, competition breeds progress. Think back to the 2010 Mustang GT vs 2011 Mustang GT...it's not coincidence the 2011 GT had nearly 100 more hp than '10 (hint - the new Camaro SS came out with 426 hp in 2010).

 

[thill444]

I am not a Ford guy. Had a C7 and had zero issues with it. I was pretty happy overall with quality and GM. Wanted to get into something that had a larger cabin and the occasional small kid in the backseat. Test drove the Camaro multiple times from an SS1LE to a ZR1 to a ZLE. There was so much about the car I liked. The handling, the manual gearbox (6 speed Tremec superior to the 7 speed tremec in the C7). Same engine as the C7.

But I hated the ergonomics. All the things that have been talked about to death. The sightlines, the layout of the heat/AC vents, the tine trunk opening, etc. The exterior styling I struggled with. Especially the 19 front end (which many dealers out here still have and cannot sell). The rear end.

It is what it is. It's not about marketing and sales. It's not about the chasis. It's about the rest of the car and the dynamics of driving one everyday.

Have a GT350. Best of all worlds.

 

[Ace]

From what I heard the GM strike at Lansing plant hit the Camaro really hard. They just produce a small amount of Camaros around September and October because of that. Dealer lots saw the outcome of this in Q1 with a lot of ordered cars not coming as planned and single dealers running out of Camaros, so customers couldn't even take a look at a current Camaro.

 

[Carwatcher]

My wife bought a 20 GT last week from one of the few dealerships open. It was mostly out of necessity(old truck broke down) but some people are still buying cars and some good deals to be had.

 

[thill444]

From what I heard the GM strike at Lansing plant hit the Camaro really hard. They just produce a small amount of Camaros around September and October because of that. Dealer lots saw the outcome of this in Q1 with a lot of ordered cars not coming as planned and single dealers running out of Camaros, so customers couldn't even take a look at a current Camaro.

That could be part of the story but here where I live the largest Chevy dealer has basically had the same 25-28 Camaros sitting on the lot since November when I looked. He has a pile of 19’s still. They are not moving. I think the 19 front end was a terrible decision by GM and it likely did them no favors.

Ford does seem to have better incentives where I live too.

If you search CarGurus you can see how long these cars are sitting.

 

[Weather Man]

My local Dodge dealer has inventory stacked to the roof, but no Challengers. Pickup deals should be epic.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

US MUSCLE CAR SALES

Camaro 7,185 / 12,083 / -40%

Challenger 12,138 / 13, 431 / -10%

Mustang 18,069 / 16,917 / +6.8%

Mustang sales are a surprise. With the coronavirus national shut down
I was looking for the entire industry to be down 40%.
Mustang squeezed out an increase over 2019.
Not looking good at C6G City. Will coronavirus kill the Camaro?

No being a Camaro will kill the Camaro. Crazy as hell that sales are up on the stang.

 

[Ace]

That could be part of the story but here where I live the largest Chevy dealer has basically had the same 25-28 Camaros sitting on the lot since November when I looked. He has a pile of 19’s still. They are not moving. I think the 19 front end was a terrible decision by GM and it likely did them no favors.

Ford does seem to have better incentives where I live too.

If you search CarGurus you can see how long these cars are sitting.

Yeah, I agree. GM strike is a part of the reason, but not whole story. I honestly think that Chevy really dropped the ball with the refresh. Not because of the new frontend, but they didn't really upgrade the car. Just look how many people here upgraded from 15-17 to refresh. If you own a 6th Gen Camaro, why would you upgrade to the refresh if the new car including the power is absolutely the same. Yeah you get LED headlights and updated gauges (not even full digital), but that's for only a handful of people a reason to invest thousands of dollars into the upgrade.

I think since Al Oppenheiser was moved to EVs two years ago, they really don't care about 6th Gen Camaro anymore and just focus on selling the C8.

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