After trailing the Chevrolet Camaro in each of the first four months of 2013, the Ford Mustang has battled back – beating the Camaro badly in June sales with a margin of over 2,000 units. More importantly, while the Mustang has only won 2 of the 6 months in 2013, the pummeling handed out by the original Pony car in June has allowed Ford’s Mustang to climb into the top spot in 2013 annual muscle car sales with a lead of almost 800 units.
Ford Motor Company sold 9,243 Mustang coupes and convertibles in June 2013, marking the best sales month for the Mustang of 2013 by a comfortable amount. This is the first time that the Mustang has topped the 9,000 monthly sales unit level since June 2012 when they sold 10,263 units. On the other hand, the Chevrolet Camaro had a rough month in June with only 7,236 units sold and when you combine the strong month for the Mustang with the bad month for the Camaro – you have one serious beating by the mighty Mustang. In fact, while the two have gone back and forth over the last year and a half with both of the American muscle cars claiming a bunch of months over that time, June 2013 marks the most lopsided score for monthly muscle car sales we have seen in years.
On the year, Ford has sold 43,111 copies of the Mustang while GM has sold only 42,312 examples of the Chevrolet Camaro. Ford is working hard to prevent the Camaro from winning its fourth straight annual sales title and if the Mustang can continue this momentum through the summer months while the Camaro struggles – 2013 could be the year that the Mustang breaks the Camaro’s winning streak.
We can assume that the low sales figures for the Camaro last month are due to prospective buyers waiting for the lightly refreshed 2014 Camaro and if that is the case, the bowtie clad muscle car could see a big boom in sales when those new models arrive. At the same time, the next generation Mustang is expected to hit next year and when it does – it could be a real game changer for FoMoCo.
"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.
