Pretty flattering numbers for Team Mustang.
---From BON---
It was exactly four years ago this month that I wrote an article for BlueOvalNews titled "Mustang Remains Best Selling Coupe," where I illustrated that after nearly 40 years on the market, Ford's Mustang typically leads the sales chart among coupes. Now, with an all-new design, Mustang appears to be on track to continue pacing the coupe segment.
Media reporting, unimaginative at best, seems to be overlooking Mustang's resurgent popularity. It seems to be more fashionable to tout the Japanese companies gains, but Mustang is at the least, equally as strong this year. Consider the month of April, when Mustang had a 25.9 percent sales gain, equal to Toyota's gain. Even more noteworthy is the yearly comparison where Mustang has gained 19.2 percent in contrast to Toyota's 13.6 percent gain.
Media coverage is just as wretchedly fixated on clamoring over the success of the Chrysler 300, especially crediting the car with the lions-share of DaimlerChrysler's 5.4 percent, four-month sales gain. What they fail to mention is that in the four-month comparison between this year and last, is that this year, the 300 has had four full months of sales, while last year, it had just entered the market in March. Therefore, the 300's 35,000-unit gain over last year does unquestionably add to DC's bottom line sales tally.
Contrasting the Chrysler 300, Mustang had a full 12 months of sales last year, so achieving a comparable sale gain would be phenomenal. However, to Mustang's credit, it does have a 10,000-unit gain over last year.
Regardless, my point is more clearly illustrated by presenting raw sales data. The Chrysler 300 has four-month sales this year of 49,089; the Mustang stands at a greater, 61,820. April sales were 12,837 for the 300, while Mustang had sales of 19,559 in April. Based upon all the hoopla surrounding the 300's success, I had been under the impression that it was the market's only triumphant sales story. But if the 300 is defined as a success, then the Mustang must be a grand slam home run.
At this point it may be worth considering how Mustang fits within the context of total U.S. car sales. If the newly redesigned Mustang is a success as I've implied, then it should be illustratable not only in unit sales, but it should also have achieved a larger percentage of overall market sales. Since the new model was only on the market for a couple of months at the end of 2004, any measurement of success will only be notable in 2005 sales data.
It is clearly revealed in the table below that the all-new Mustang is enjoying phenomenal success in the marketplace this year. Mustang has achieved 2.4% of the U.S. car market in the first four months of 2005, far better than any of the previous 15 years, as is confirmed in the following tabulation.
While the Chrysler 300 may be the media darling when it comes to sales reporting, Mustang madness continues to roar through the streets of America.