Ford Mustang breaks the Camaro shutout – leads in May muscle car sales

The Ford Mustang has had a rough 2013 with a year over year decline in every single month – meaning that Ford sold less vehicles each month this year than they sold in the same month last year. The Mustang failed to fall short of 2012 May sales last month as well but with the Chevrolet Camaro facing similar sales issues, the mighty Mustang was able to beat the Camaro in May 2013. Ford moved 8,797 Mustang coupes and convertibles last month which accounts for the best month of the year for the Mustang while also marking the first time in 2013 where the original pony car beat the Camaro in monthly sales. May 2012 was the Mustang’s best month last year and while 8,797 units sold last month is a far cry from the 10,427 sold last May – some folks at Ford are sure to be smiling over the fact that the Mustang has broken the Camaro’s 2013 shutout.

The Chevrolet Camaro has also had a rough 2013 but the bowtie clad muscle car has managed to sell enough vehicles each month to beat the Mustang – until last month. The Camaro actually had a fairly decent month relative to the rest of the year with 7,929 coupes and convertibles sold but for the first time since November 2012, the Camaro fell short of the cross town rival from Ford.

The Dodge Challenger posted its second best month ever in May 2013 with 5,537 brawny Mopar muscle cars sold last month, falling some 600 units short of the Challenger’s best month ever which was posted back in March. This near-record month made the Challenger the only one of the American muscle cars to post a year over year gain last month. On top of that, the Challenger has consistently posted strong enough months this year that has allowed the Dodge muscle car to be the only car in the segment to show an increase in sales through the first five months of 2013. Unlike the Camaro and Mustang - both of which are way down so far this year compared to last year – the Challenger has moved 28% more units through the first 5 months of 2013 than they sold in the same period last year.

The Camaro still leads on the year
While Ford was able to grab its first monthly win of 2013 for the Mustang but the Chevrolet Camaro still holds a fairly healthy lead in annual sales as the high performance Chevy looks to claim its fourth straight annual sales title. There have been 35,076 new Camaros sold this year while the Mustang has moved just 33,868 units – putting the Mustang 1,208 units behind the Camaro. That figure is small enough that it would only take one strong month by Ford against a weak month by Chevrolet for the Mustang to overtake the Camaro in 2013 overall sales. The Mustang posted its strongest months during this time in 2012 so Ford has a very real chance of overtaking the Camaro in 2013 muscle car sales through the summer. Unfortunately for Ford, the Mustang spent much of 2012 in the lead only to watch it slip away late in the year – giving the Camaro its third straight segment sales title. Even though the Dodge Challenger has posted strong numbers throughout the year, it still sits well behind both the Mustang and Camaro on the year with 24,881 units sold.