Ford Mustang Is Best-Selling Muscle Car in America for 2017

Sales numbers for 2017 are in, and for the third-consecutive year, the Ford Mustang has beaten the Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Challenger in annual sales.

If you have been paying any attention to the 2017 monthly muscle car sales races, you likely know that the Ford Mustang had the annual title all but locked up a few months ago. The Camaro would have had to set sales records to even come close to catching the Mustang in the final few months of the year, but it did not – allowing the Mustang to cruise to a third-consecutive annual muscle car sales title.

December Ties Up the Title

Coming into the month of December 2017, the Ford Mustang led the Chevrolet Camaro in the annual sales race by roughly 10,000 units. Chevy has only sold more than 10,000 Camaros in a month once in the past five years (May of 2014), so it would take the best sales month of the 6^th generation Camaro to catch the Mustang. At the same time, Ford would have had to deliver no Mustangs in December for that record month by Chevy to make a difference.

Basically, it was more or less impossible for the Ford Mustang to lose the 2017 muscle car sales title, but with the arrival of the official sales figures from last month – it is official. The Ford Mustang is the bestselling muscle car in America for the third-straight year.

In December, Ford sold 7,714 Mustangs while Chevrolet sold only 3,802 Camaros. The Camaro was beaten in December by the Dodge Challenger as well, with the Mopar muscle car moving 4,508 units in the final month of the year. In fact, December 2017 was one of the worst sales months for the Camaro since it returned to the company lineup in late 2009, so in a month where Chevy needed a record-high – they got a record-low.

2017 Muscle Car Sales Totals

On the year, Americans bought 81,866 examples of the Ford Mustang. That is down significantly from the 105,932 Mustangs sold in the US in 2016, but it was more than enough to comfortably beat the Chevrolet Camaro with 67,940 units and the Dodge Challenger with 64,537 units.

On the way to winning its third-straight annual title, the Ford Mustang led the segment in sales seven times in 2017 while finishing in second place in each of the other five months. The best month for the Mustang in 2017 came in March, when the company sold 9,120 units. That was the best sales total in a month for any of the three Detroit muscle cars during the 2017 calendar year and to find a month where the Camaro sold more than 9,120 units, we have to go back to May of 2015.

The Ford Mustang continues to dominate the muscle car segment while the Camaro hits the lowest sales numbers we have seen in the past two generations. With the refreshed 2018 Mustang hitting dealerships now, we can expect to see a spike in Ford muscle car sales over the next few months – likely setting the company up for another big win in 2018.

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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