The Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang rivalry is one of the oldest in the automotive world. These cars have traded blows for decades, be it on the street, on the racetrack or in yearly sales. 2023 saw the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger drive off to the great dealership in the sky, and it looks like they got their asses handed to them in sales by the redesigned Mustang.
After getting unveiled in September 2022, the new 2024 Ford Mustang went on sale in mid-2023. Even with that model year changeover, Ford managed to move 48,605 Mustangs overall in 2023, and the new generation got off to a good start with 13,290 sold in Q4.
The Dodge Challenger came in a close second. Even with production winding down, Dodge managed to sell 44,960 of its long-running coupe. While impressive, that number is down 18 percent over 2022 when just over 55,000 were sold. Sales of the Challenger were down in Q4 as well – 9,610 were sold, which is down 26 percent from the year before.
Chevy’s Camaro finished last in sales, which has been the case for a while now. Just 31,028 Camaros were sold in 2023. While low compared to the others pony cars, those sales are up nearly 26 percent versus 2022.
It’ll be interesting to see how these sales play out going forward, as the future of the American muscle car is going to be very different from what it is now. Dodge has a new muscle car coming soon that will have both gas and EV powertrains. Chevy hasn’t said whether or not the Camaro is returning, but there have been rumors of a wild plan to make the Camaro its own sub-brand, similar to what Ford has done with the Mustang Mach-E.
