well now that the camaro/trans am is gone... the mustang seems to be setting its sights on competing with the corvette... well thats what alot of the magazines are saying now. This months automobile says "Ford's 400-hp Pony car begs Corvette: Bring It On!".... well if this is true, then wont the mustangs price go up?
or is this only refering to the cobra or something?

 

The vette is simply in a whole different class then the Mustang. Hp level may be comparable but that'd be about it.

 

I've always known GM to have the best bang for the buck ratio for serious sports cars, i.e. RWD V8. I'm looking for this to stay the same by a wide margin, even with any new 'Stang contender/pretender. In other words yeah, you'll pay dearly for a high performance 'Stang that can hang with 'Vettes. if the Z06/Z16 450HP 2004 is true, then Mustang is right back where it started; in second place. You'd have to spend some GT money for that, and I don't mean Mustang GT, I mean GT.

 

I don't think that they will raise the prices much because F**d knows what the M*****g is and what its suppossed to do. They want it to sell and be affordable where it should be for each kind of buyer so I'd say it'll be alot like it was before.

 

As kizz said, GM has taken note of the Mustang's recent achievements. I'm thinking the LS6 will make into the base C5 by '04. The Z06 will be firmly in the 450+ HP with its 6.0L by then as well.

 

I don't really think that Ford thinks of the Mustang as a Corvette competitor. I think that the magazine just made that quote to get people to buy thier magazine.

 

Agreed.

Mustang is not in the same market as Corvette... and it has no business being there either.

Part of Mustang is it's price point... like Camaro.

 

Ford wouldn't mind if people _percieved_ the Mustang as the Corvette's competitor.......

 

Exactly. Most people will probably percieve a Cobra with around 400hp to be a Corvette competitor. Thats all that matters. People's perception has way more impact on car sales than actual fact.

This is for sure though. The Cobra is out of Camaro territory. The GTs can still compete with Z28s and SS's, but teh Cobras are a step ahead. If GM makes the next camaro SS with performance to match if not beat a Cobra, it will be awfully close to corvette performance, and probably expensive too. I'd say that right now the Cobra is in a league of its own.

 

Just like Darth said.

 

What if Chevy dropped the price of the base Vette to make it more attractive to former F-body/potential Mustang buyers?

 

Don't see it happeneing for a number of reasons...

1) Bowling Green is running at max capacity pretty much all the time with the price where it is at... so why drop it?

2) Corvette doesn't really want to make itself into a Mustang competitor... Corvette is generally regarded as "The ultimate American sports car" (giving Viper it's due nod, but still...)

3) If/When Camaro comes back... it will reclaim it's place as GM's Mustang Competitor ...

 

Why would Chevy do that? Vettes are pretty much selling as fast as Bowling Green can make them....at really nice profits too.

People are buying Corvettes because they want Corvettes, not Mustangs, F-bodies, or anything else.....much like the BMW buyer.

I don't think BMW is going to drop the price of the 3 series to compete with the Mustang, though, unlike Corvette, it is at least the same layout as a Mustang.

 

Actually I was half-kidding, half-serious... what with all the speculation that GM will lose former F-body buyers to Ford (Mustang) rather than have them slide over to Corvette or GTO. If they (GM) was actually afraid of this, cost cutting a/the base model Vette might do this... and might even attract some Mustang folks.

Personally even if there is no future F-body, I can see myself in a Corvette, before ever considering a Ford... no matter what the price is. In fact the only thing preventing me from looking into a new Vette now is that fact that the base model has basically the same engine as the 2002 SS Camaros, and there are still a few of those left lying around.

If I'm paying a premium for a new Corvette, I want something I can't get in an F-body, or the new GTO.

 

I see what you are trying to say... but , unfortunately, GM must be willing to lose customers, or they wouldn't have done away with the F-Body to begin with...

I'm sure it is all a calculated risk, but they have to expect to lose some customers for a long time over this descision.