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Dodge Sold Over 5 Times As Many Challengers As Chevy Did Camaros In 2021 Q2!

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#1 ·
Dodge Sold Over 5 Times As Many Challengers As Chevy Did Camaros In 2021 Q2!
BY BRAD ANDERSON | POSTED ON JULY 6, 2021

Some say the Dodge Challenger is aging like fine wine, others that it’s way past its prime time, but whichever side you stand on, you can’t deny that muscle car enthusiasts continue to buy it in their droves, so much so that it actually outsold the newer Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro in the second quarter.

In Q2 2021, a grand total of 15,052 Challengers were sold across the United States posting an increase of 52.3% over the same period in 2020, according to data from Autonews. Ford delivered a total of 14,676 Mustangs in the second quarter of 2021, down 6.6% compared to last year, while the Camaro lagged well behind its competition selling only a fraction at just 2,792 examples during April, May, and June 2021, recording a 58.2% drop over last year.

Mustang still ahead in overall 2021 sales

The Mustang continues to outsell the Challenger and Camaro when you factor in Q1 to the equation, with 31,950 units delivered during the first six months of the year (-5.4%). By comparison, Dodge has delivered 30,148 Challengers in the first half of 2021 (up 36.9% over 2020) while Chevrolet has sold just 9,881 Camaros (-28.7% at 13,860 units in 2020 H1).

While demand for the Challenger has remained remarkably strong as the car has aged, thanks largely to the launch of various new, high-powered models, it’s worth noting that sales and deliveries of the Mustang have been hit hard this year due to difficulties the automaker is facing in overcoming the microchip shortage. In addition, production of the Camaro has been halted on a number of occasions throughout the shortage.

Nevertheless, GM executives won’t be pleased to see sales of the Camaro falling off a cliff like this. Production of the 2022 model is expected to start in September but it has undergone very few changes over the 2021 model so it remains to be seen whether it’ll manage to generate any renewed interest in the car.



 
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#4 ·
We were lucky they at least mildly revised the hideous beak that came in MY 19 to make it mildly less offensive.

The LT1 trim with the more attractive pre MCE face would have helped sales, as would some actual product advertising. But not likely enough to pull it out of 3rd. The Mustang is the Mustang and will always find buyers, and Dodge hit a good niche with the size and comfort of the Challenger coupled with good pricing.

Camaro is also getting hurt badly with the lack of inventory since that plant seems to be the first GM shuts down to conserve its chip supply.
 
#3 ·
3-1, Yikes!!!
 
#5 ·
It would be interesting to be able to compare how many weeks each car's production was shut down in 2021.

The Challenger being long since amortized has to be a huge profit center for Dodge. The Camaro and Mustang not so much.
 
#7 ·
That's incorrect. The 2016 to present Gen 6 Alpha Camaro is completely different than the 2010 Zeta Gen 5 Camaro. I've owned both. They don't compare other than somewhat similar styling.
 
#15 ·
The thing about the Challenger is that it's a big coupe, basically the only muscle car mid size coupe out there. And it's very cheap if you get the lower trims which are also offered in AWD. And it's really attractive although the interior looks a generation old IMO. The current Camaro is much more of a niche product.
 
#24 ·
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Not only that, the complaints about visibilty is a Joke. No worse than a SUV/CUV, you can't see what's behind you. I have 2019 Terrain Denali and when i went to test drive one i felt i could see out just as well. Set your mirrors up correctly and no problem. GM however should make the blind sight detection standard, and then no one will have complaint....of course we know they still we complain. Waiting until next year to order one when the plants are running fully again.
 
#30 ·
The Camaro community is too finicky..."It's no different than the Gen 5" or "Outward visibility is terrible"...so you skip out on it...and then complain that GM won't give you another chance to buy one. But who's fault is it really. Mustang community comes out a ponies up whenever a new model comes out regardless and the Challenger has been out almost as long as the Camaro...and it has only undergone what can be interpreted as a mild MCE from the 09-14 model to the 15+ and guess what it's sales have continuously gone up. So what is the problem with the Camaro???? Cheap interior bits, yep Challenger has that, gun slit windows...check, Challenger has that too......

But what does the Challenger have that the Camaro doesn't? Attitude...trims like Scat Pack, Hellcat, Redeye, Demon, R/T, Daytona, T/A, 1320, Pro Stock, Shaker...Camaro has anonymous alphabet soup RPO codes like it's 1965...Z/28, ZL1, 1LE, LT1, LS, LT...sure some of those cars are bad ass, but they lack that attitude - that gravitas that Dodge has...is what gives them that "Gotta have it" factor which drive their sales, in what could be argued 13 years into a single generation.
 
#31 ·
This doesn't really surprise me at all. I tried one out and have also been in both of my brothers Challengers he's had/has. I will say that most of what is harped about here on GMI over the Camaro is true. The numbers prove it out, & Not much more to say about it.
 
#39 ·
At this point...GM may as well build out a couple thousand CT4/5 BWs and call it a day...convert LGR over to EV production ASAP and try to get an electric Camaro out before Ford/Dodge comes w/ their electric musclecars, because as it sits right now, it's over for the Camaro.
 
#45 ·
The dinosaur's on this site must be developing poor eyesight if they can't see where they're GOING in a Camaro. The windshield visibility is absolutely fine. It even has this magical device known as a backup camera for backing up. :) ;):eek:
 
#50 ·
Maybe I'm just a really good driver because I've never complained about blind spots in any car. I've driven all 3 and never once had any concerns over blind spots...IMO they're over-exaggerated in their severity.

I said this before, I believe the Camaro's problems go all the way back to it's genesis...it was created as an answer to the original pony car - Mustang. Because the Mustang came first, it defined the segment and became the "Kleenex" product, it's even in the name of the segment "Pony Cars"...and it's the only one of the products in that segment is actually branded as a "Pony"....Camaro will never have that recognition, it's a "me too" product and also...nobody knows what the **** a Camaro really is.
 
#53 ·
Maybe I'm just a really good driver because I've never complained about blind spots in any car. I've driven all 3 and never once had any concerns over blind spots...IMO they're over-exaggerated in their severity.

I said this before, I believe the Camaro's problems go all the way back to it's genesis...it was created as an answer to the original pony car - Mustang. Because the Mustang came first, it defined the segment and became the "Kleenex" product, it's even in the name of the segment "Pony Cars"...and it's the only one of the products in that segment is actually branded as a "Pony"....Camaro will never have that recognition, it's a "me too" product and also...nobody knows what the **** a Camaro really is.
There can only be one Kleenex. The rest are also rans and it shows like you say with the other Mustang competitors. Although I do think the Challenger has had a better run of it, than say the Camaro.
 
#72 ·
You're a better man than me...If I were in your predicament, I would've gotten tired of waiting after about a month and canx'd the order and just gone w/ getting a head/cam package installed on the old SS.
 
#65 ·
First, I'll say this year is definitely not a good year to be comparing sales numbers with so many external factors (namely chips), as it throws off production numbers, and subsequently inventory and sales. BUT Camaro was struggling sales-wise prior to this.

Most of the factors have been mentioned - I know to me the design of the '16 looked too similar to the outgoing model to truly draw new buyers in - I certainly understand the "don't ruin the formula 911 style" - you still want it to look "Camaro" - but I think the target market wants "new". I know you'll then say Challenger has certainly proven "new" isn't necessarily needed, but I'd argue that 1) Challenger is a more unique look with the full retro styling, and 2) they've done a better job at retaining interest with the different performance versions and trims as someone mentioned above.

Focus on performance over practicality - I haven't driven one, so I'm going off of reviews and others' experience - but as pointed out, they've gone all out on performance while sacrificing day to day livability......gun slit windows, odd/small trunk opening, etc.
 
#78 ·
There's things about the Camaro's styling that I don't like, though overall I do like it. The visibility thing is way overstated. Drive it for a few minutes and there is no visibility issue.

It's sales have sucked for quite a while. But this headline is just stupid. With the chip shortage, they just aren't building them. My dealer here hasn't had Camaros on the lot in months, and they're fairly popular here in Hilton Head, particularly as convertibles.

Might as well run the banner headline "Challenger Outsells Firebird 15,0000 - 0!!!!"
 
#79 ·
yeah the article is click bait. The Camaro has long been number three sales wise in the segment but five to one is not normal. Just look at it historically. I was at my local Chevy dealer the other day and they don't even have one in stock. And they would always have a few in summer season.
 
#81 ·
Dodge gives people options that you can't get at Chevy. There's the entry level SXT which can be had with multiple option packages. Then the R/T which can be had again with multiple packages...Black top edition, Scat Pack, Daytona, the list goes on and one....add in the Wide Body models...then you can step up to the SRT's and the Hell Cats in standard and wide body configurations...plus all the models available in that line up as well. They are super popular here at my work.
 
#82 ·
I have never seen one Trailblazer in stock at my Chevy dealer. I wanted to check them out.

They've also had next to no Blazers since the start, apparently because they sell immediately.
 
#83 ·
Dodge does give buyers great options, great engine choices. And I'm not a Camaro hater by any stretch. But say whatever you want about Challenger options, pricing, blah blah blah. The reason that the Challenger is successful and they've been selling pretty much the same car since 2008 is because they started with a great design that has incredibly widespread appeal.

At Chevy, that high beltline has always been polarizing. While I like the Camaro, that beltline is why I didn't buy it. Not due to visibility, which is a non-issue to me. Just because of the look. I like it, I don't love it. I'm clearly not alone. Ed Welburn and his successors' response to this: Yeah, well we're right and the buyers just need to like what we build. Chevy built a Camaro that their designers love, without regard for the mass public.
 
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