I would agree with that. With the loyal following that the Mustang has, many of the enthusiasts that want to buy a new one, will hold off until the new engines are out.

Even the V6 buyers.

We had better all hope that the Camaro does better than 40-50K sales, as I can pretty much guarantee that it will not make money at those volumes. The Mustang can, but that is due to the fact that the platform has pretty much been paid off for quite a while.

This kind of reminds me of Flex sales. A great car, released at the absolute worst time possible.

The question being, how long will the government let GM keep a money losing car.

 

I can't see the 2011 powertrain upgrade having any sort of measureable affect on Camaro sales.

 

Not on Camaro sales. However, it should have a pretty good impact on Mustang sales.

 

Flex? Great?

 

I do agree that the new motors are keeping the enthusiasts at bay, however, I can't believe that its keeping sales at bay too much.

The Mustang & Camaro sales aren't driven by enthusiasts. Notice the difference of V6 models sold compared to V8 models. Pony cars aren't made to survive on the sales of GT, GT500, or SS models.

When it comes to these cars, enthusiasts are the vast minority. The sales of pony cars are driven by soccer moms and college girls wanting a V6 model that looks sporty. They could care more about a paint job that is their favorite color than the motor making "x" more horsepower next year.

 

On the last CZ28 podcast (or maybe it was two weeks ago; I can't keep them straight), they played a recorded quote from Cheryl Pilcher in which she said they had nearly 25,000 orders already, and that they are WAY ahead of where they expected to be.

My guess is that 40k is quite a bit below what they're really going to sell.

 

Do you actually know any of this to be true or just making a very broad point supported by conjecture?

 

How is the Camaro money losing when its selling like crack?

 

Ok - guess I misinterpreted the statement. It probably does have some affect on 2010 Mustang sales.

 

The paid off part? Ford said early on that the S-197 was supposed to be profitable right around the 80k mark until its planned replacment right after MY11 or 12 with the Huntsman based GRWD platform (well before the financial meltdown and the CAFE changes).

 

I agree. I don't think that rumors of new engines will hurt Mustang sales. The 1997 Camaro sold better than the '98 model, in spite of the LS1 having been announced at the '97 Chicago auto show.

Clearly, there is a lot of pent up demand for a Camaro, making it impossible, I think, to predict long term run rates based on two months' sales.

 

Not being a smarty here but any car that attracts both sexes is almost certainly guaranteed of success. Japanese makers seem to find ways to win the hearts of females moreover companies like GM. For instance, I can see females wanting to be seen in Accords and Camrys but never in Impalas.

Back on topic, the Camaro looks sexy no matter what your gender. This Camaro is every bit like the Mustang in that it appeals to women of all ages. I guess that's why Camaro and Mustang sales are strong.

In regards to the Challenger... I'm inclined to believe it's the most traditional of muscle cars and appeals more to male drivers, hence the lower comparative sales figures.

Just a theory I have.

 

I thought the reason for the low Challenger numbers is because the factory has been shut down so long.

 

I'm not referring to just the past couple of month's results. If you look at the Challenger's sales charts since its release, it hasn't sold much over 3000 samples during its best month.

 

That may be so, but is there data to back it up?

Bob