The last pony car standing has wiped the floor with the Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Challenger, with Ford Motor Company posting 13,707 deliveries for the Mustang in the first quarter of 2024. Be that as it may, bear in mind that FoMoCo delivered 14,711 units in the first quarter of 2023.
How did the now-discontinued Camaro and Challenger fare? As per the attached releases, not well. The biggest automaker of the Big Three in Detroit reported 3,574 deliveries for the Chevrolet Camaro versus 7,780 between January 2023 through March 2023. That's a drop of 54.1 percent, which is best explained by the Camaro production line coming to a screeching halt on December 14.
The Mustang's rival isn't gone for good, though. On March 22, the Detroit-based colossus made it clear that said nameplate would eventually return. Scott Bell, the vice president of Global Chevrolet, said the following: "this is not the end of [the] Camaro's story." The rumor mill suggests either an electric sedan or an electric crossover. Hearsay further suggests that General Motors will spin off Corvette into a sub-brand comprising the sports car we know and love and – get this – at least one sport utility vehicle.
Over at FCA US LLC, a.k.a. the US division of Stellantis, the Dodge Challenger sold 9,737 units or 14 percent worse than it did in the first quarter of 2023. The retro-styled Challenger was discontinued on December 22, along with the Charger sedan. The Brampton assembly plant in Canada bade sayonara to the Chrysler 300 as well. The L-platform cars will be replaced by coupes and sedans based on the STLA Medium platform, beginning with the three- and five-door Charger. The Challenger nameplate hasn't returned for MY24, and its future remains uncertain at press time.
Photo: Ford
Chrysler intends to launch an electric sedan twinned with the four-door Charger. The brand's first battery-electric vehicle is due in 2025, whereas the lineup will become fully electric by 2028. It should come as no surprise that Cadillac is going completely electric as well, with GM's range-topping brand making the switch by decade's end.
Speaking of electrics, the Mustang Mach-E shouldn't be confused with its fastback-bodied and rag-top sibling. The Mach-E rides on an Escape-derived platform, and it's manufactured in Mexico rather than Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan. Most likely the final pony car with an available V8 engine and manual transmission to boot, the Mustang comes with a four-pot turbo as standard.
The 2.3-liter EcoBoost is exclusively automatic, whereas the 5.0-liter Coyote can be had with either a manual or a torque-converter auto. To be more precise, make that a couple of manuals because the GT features the Getrag MT-82, and the Dark Horse levels up to the much nicer Tremec TR-3160. At the moment of reporting, the EcoBoost and Coyote start at $30,920 and $41,960, respectively, sans freight.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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