Sporty Car Sales In America - July 2016 YTD

U.S. sales of the Chevrolet Camaro continued their steep decline in July 2016, falling 26% compared with July 2015. That 1949-unit loss drove the Camaro's year-to-date tally down by 7708 sales in time with the launch of a new Camaro, a period in which you would expect to see a dramatic increase – not a dramatic decrease – in sales of an American pony car in its home market.

Admittedly, U.S. sales of the Camaro's chief rivals are falling, as well. But both of those cars, the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, are declining more slowly, both are more established cars which have already had their "hot" periods. (Mustang sales rose to an eight-year high in 2015 when it was an all-new sixth-gen car.) And both of those cars posted improved July sales while the Camaro leaned into a nosedive. 

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - July 2016 YTD
U.S. Car Sales Rankings By Model - July 2016 YTD

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In fact, both of those cars are now routinely outselling the Camaro, a car which led the three car category for five consecutive years from 2010 to 2014. That includes the Challenger, which made July the third consecutive month in which the Dodge outsold the Camaro.

GM points to decreased fleet emphasis in order to explain the Camaro's rapid slowdown. We would also point out that the Camaros available at your local Chevrolet store are often pricier examples. Plus, as we've mentioned before, outside of the Camaro faithful – where GM must attract thousands of Camaro buyers in order to make it a volume car – do people even look at this car and recognize that it's an all-new machine?

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Elsewhere in the sports car universe, the Fiat 124 Spider became more readily available in July 2016. Together with 881 sales of the Mazda MX-5 Miata on which it's based, 124 Spider sales climbed to 480 units. Yes, it is interesting that after 13 consecutive months of year-over-year improvement, Mazda MX-5 volume tumbled 22% during the very month in which its sibling, the 124 Spider, became available.

Total MX-5/124 Spider volume rose by 20%, year-over-year.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. These tables are now sortable, so you can rank sports cars, coupes, and GTs any which way you like. Mobile users can thumb across tables for full-width access. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • August 2016 • June 2016 • July 2015

American Muscle	July 2016	July 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Chevrolet Camaro	5520	7469	-26.1%	42,354	50,062	-15.4%
Dodge Challenger	5619	5241	7.2%	39,998	42,332	-5.5%
Ford Mustang	9565	8482	12.8%	72,530	76,772	-5.5%
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Total	20,704	21,192	-2.3%	154,882	169,166	-8.4%

Euro Sports Cars	July 2016	July 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Alfa Romeo 4C	43	49	-12.2%	338	354	-4.5%
Audi TT	211	8	2538%	1689	24	6938%
BMW Z4	124	118	5.1%	675	1190	-43.3%
Jaguar F-Type	354	425	-16.7%	2360	2577	-8.4%
Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class & SLK-Class	238	324	-26.5%	1975	2404	-17.8%
Porsche Boxster	344	253	36.0%	1723	1808	-4.7%
Porsche Cayman	388	285	36.1%	2371	1918	23.6%
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Total	1702	1462	16.4%	11,131	10,275	8.3%

Misc. Sporty Cars	July 2016	July 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Audi A5	744	1105	-32.7%	5078	7824	-35.1%
BMW 2-Series *	1708	1028	66.1%	10,765	6370	69.0%
Buick Cascada	633	---	---	4704	---	---
Chevrolet Corvette	2159	2794	-22.7%	16,827	21,101	-20.3%
Fiat 124 Spider	480	---	---	481	---	---
Honda CR-Z	272	270	0.7%	1477	1562	-5.4%
Infiniti Q60	62	319	-80.6%	747	2611	-71.4%
Lexus RC	977	1232	-20.7%	6269	7962	-21.3%
Mazda MX-5 Miata	881	1130	-22.0%	6265	3784	65.6%
Nissan 370Z	722	673	7.3%	3702	4674	-20.8%
Scion FR-S	682	1058	-35.5%	4465	6806	-34.4%
Subaru BRZ	353	525	-32.8%	2760	3334	-17.2%
Subaru Impreza WRX/STi *	3288	3716	-11.5%	19,294	18,751	2.9%
Volkswagen Eos	---	246	-100%	387	1592	-75.7%
Volkswagen GTI *	2417	1780	35.8%	13,269	13,085	1.4%
Volkswagen Golf R *	222	132	68.2%	2792	1803	54.9%
Volvo C70	---	---	---	---	7	-100%
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Total	15,600	16,008	-2.5%	99,282	101,266	-2.0%

Premium Sporty Cars	July 2016	July 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Acura NSX	21	---	---	23	---	---
Audi R8	88	41	115%	350	404	-13.4%
BMW i8	166	217	-23.5%	786	950	-17.3%
Cadillac ELR	15	66	-77.3%	511	659	-22.5%
Dodge Viper	49	57	-14.0%	350	419	-16.5%
Jaguar XK	---	11	-100%	3	249	-98.8%
Lexus LFA	---	1	-100%	6	6	0.0%
Mercedes-AMG GT	57	89	-36.0%	735	696	5.6%
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	---	---	---	---	52	-100%
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	279	330	-15.5%	2077	2531	-17.9%
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	---	---	---	1	27	-96.3%
Nissan GT-R	52	66	-21.2%	367	826	-55.6%
Porsche 911	806	778	3.6%	5833	5850	-0.3%
Porsche 918 Spyder	---	40	-100%	1	175	-99.4%
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Total	1533	1696	-9.6%	11,043	12,844	-14.0%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* indicates a vehicle which is also shown in another GCBC segment breakdown
^ BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales figures of the 1-Series and 2-Series.
Clearly GoodCarBadCar is not suggesting that the cars in the tables above are all direct competitors. Establishing categories among cars as unique as even the Audi TT and Porsche Boxster has never pleased a single reader, so cars have been lumped together so you can simply see how buyers looking for sports cars, roadsters, hot hatches, convertibles, GTs, and wanna-be sports cars spend their money. Greater categorization of cars would only lead to problems that automakers create by not isolating model-specific sales figures: we don't know how many M3s BMW has sold or how many Civics are Si models, for example. The numbers we do have are listed above. The BMW 6-Series has been removed from the premium list because we don't use this space as a showcase for sedans (unless automakers release data for high-end sporting models like the Lexus ISF, as Toyota Canada does) and the 6-Series lineup now relies heavily on a sedan variant. GoodCarBadCar is always open to hearing about the ways you would break down segments, so feel free to get in touch. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts. ANDC estimated 86 Aston Martin sales in July; 602 YTD plus 14 July Lotus sales; 98 YTD. YTD, Maserati (6013), Ferrari (1351), Bentley (793), Lamborghini (602), and Rolls-Royce (528) sales are not reported by model.

RECOMMENDED READING
Sporty Car Sales In America - August 2016
Sporty Car Sales In America - June 2016
Sporty Car Sales In America - July 2015
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - July 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - July 2016