The Dodge Challenger remains the best-selling muscle car in the United States but the Ford Mustang is closing the gap and could very well overtake its nearest rival before the end of the year. Which is to be expected, of course, given that both the Dodge Challenger and the Chevrolet Camaro are in their last year.
Through the first nine months of the year, Dodge sold a total of 35,350 examples of the ever-popular Challenger. That’s a very solid figure for a car as old as the Challenger and means that it still holds on to the crown as the nation’s best-selling muscle car. However, its lead has narrowed as Ford had managed to shift 35,315 examples of the Mustang through September.
Working in favor of the Mustang is the fact that the seventh-generation model is now reaching the hands of customers. Ford started sales of the 2024 Mustang in August but September represented its first full month of sales. Some 76% of all Mustangs sold in Q3 came in September, totaling 6,575 examples, indicating that the new model has already been well-received by shoppers. In fact, 2024 models are selling on average just six days after reaching dealership lots.
Watch: Listen To 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Roar All The Way Up To 161 MPH
Then there’s the Chevrolet Camaro. As with in recent years, it continues to significantly trail both the Challenger and Mustang, so much so that just 24,688 examples were sold in the first three quarters of this year. Nevertheless, this represents a strong 28.7% increase compared to the same period last year and could be in part due to the fact that the 2024 model will be the last of the current generation.
While the Challenger and Mustang continue to dominate the market, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, sales of the Challenger are down 33% in Q3 compared to last year and are 16% short of where they were across the first nine months of 2022.
