The Camaro outsells the Mustang, Challenger, 370Z in July 2011

Numbers from around the American automotive industry are trickling in and it looks like the Ford Mustang’s lead of the segment last month was short lived as the Chevrolet Camaro bounced back in July 2011 – outselling the Mustang along with the Dodge Challenger and Nissan 370Z.

The Chevrolet Camaro had a decent month in July 2011 with 7,671 coupes and convertibles accounting for an improvement of 2.5% from July last year but last month’s total presented a decline of roughly 10% over June 2011. Luckily, Ford saw a far more substantial decline from June to July so Ford’s lead in the “muscle car” class lasted just one month as the Camaro claimed its 6 month this year where the GM performance car lead the segment. General Motors has sold 56,432 Camaro coupes and convertibles so far in 2011 – also allowing them to lead the segment.

Ford had a fantastic month in June 2011 with almost 8,900 Mustangs sold but in July 2011, Ford was pulled back down to Earth as the Mustang sent out just 6,805 units. This number accounted for a decline of 9% from the same month last year along with a drop of 23% from just one month ago. This is certainly not the direction that Ford wants to see the Mustang headed but with steadily high fuel prices – it can be expected that some consumers will look to more fuel friendly vehicles even though the Mustang (and Camaro and Challenger) are more fuel efficient than any muscle cars before them. The Mustang has moved 45,846 units so far in 2011, ranking them second overall.

The Dodge Challenger never really challenges for the top spot in the segment in terms of sales but the brawny Mopar muscle car is surely the most consistent and once again – the Dodge Challenger hovers in the mid-3,000 unit range as Dodge moved 3,509 Challengers last month. This is a decline of about 6% from July 2010 but compared to June, the Challenger improved by about 5% in July. The Challenger may be one of the most powerful cars in the class but it is also the heaviest and the most expensive – forcing the Challenger to linger in third place in the segment with 23,670 cars sold so far in 2011.

Last and once again least, the Nissan 370Z pulled up the rear with just 550 units sold. The Nissan rear wheel drive performance coupe has only sold 5,095 examples through 2011, meaning that Ford and Chevrolet sell more cars in the class in most months than Nissan has sold in a year.

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