The bowtie-clad everyman sports car wins out in the month of October.
Chevrolet Camaro sales have been unexpectedly low since the sixth generation arrived back in 2015. The slow Camaro sales have allowed the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger to routinely beat the Chevy in the monthly sales race over the course of the past two years. However, the Camaro has claimed a few monthly titles along the way, and in October, Chevrolet led muscle car sales for the second month in a row and the third time this year.
October Muscle Car Sales
In October 2017, Chevrolet sold 5,674 examples of the Camaro while Ford sold 5,236 Mustangs and Dodge sold 3,893 Challengers. That total of 5,674 Camaros sold was a big drop from the month before (7,430 in September), but with the Mustang and Challenger both seeing a decline in sales from September to October, Chevy was able to take the monthly title for the second month in a row. Also, while October wasn’t as great as September for the Camaro, October was still the fifth-strongest month for the Chevy muscle car this year.
Overall, since the sixth generation car went on sale in late 2015 as a 2016 model, October 2017 marked the fifth month where GM’s muscle car outsold the competition.
Annual Sales Still Favor the Mustang
Although Chevrolet has posted segment-leading numbers over the past two months, the Ford Mustang still has a commanding lead in the annual muscle car sales race. After the first 10 months of the year, Ford has sold 67,432 examples of the Mustang to lead the segment, with the Camaro sitting second with 59,401 units sold thus far and the Challenger is third with 56,169 units sold.
With two months left this year and the Mustang leading by more than 8,000 units over the Camaro, it is more or less impossible for the Chevy to close the gap before the end of the 2017. The Camaro would have to outsell the Mustang by more than 4,000 units in each of the next two months to catch the Ford. Since the car returned back in 2009 for the 2010 model year, the Camaro has never beaten the Mustang by 4,000 units in the monthly sales race. So it looks as though the 2017 muscle car sales title will once again go to Ford.
The good news is that Ford Mustang sales have tapered off a great deal over the past year and Camaro sales should continue to rise with the introduction of the refreshed model in the near future. That could allow Chevrolet to take a run at the Mustang for the 2018 muscle car sales race, but 2017 appears to be a lost cause.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
