Mustang January 2024 Sales & Production: 3,771 Sold / 5,926 Produced

[Mustang1987]

Now look who’s making stuff up.
My point wasn’t for the mustang to be the corvette. It was to take a cue from it in terms of how hard that car tries to stand out and prove that it’s something special in the modern market moving forward. The mustang needs to do the same. Carrying forward a decade old platform and the same performance without really pushing it for the next however many years isn’t the formula - as the numbers are showing.

as a Mustang fan since I first learned what a car was, it’s concerning. What sucks is watching ford try to navigate the present and future with mustang SUVs, talk about it being a “family of vehicles” etc. while letting the real thing languish is frustrating. These kinds of numbers could see the car discontinued or deprioritized further as the board misreads the sales numbers as people don’t want pony cars anymore instead of owning up to their failure to push the envelope with America’s most beloved nameplate.

We’ve seen the Camaro in its death throes, the challenger die, the charger get turned into a 6 banger-only car and that’s something we’d prefer to see the mustang avoid.

the s650 as a platform has a lot of s550 baggage.

now, we will see a new gt500/cobra tier car that’s likely to inject some enthusiasm, but it’s still an s550+, limited by the platform itself.

I’m not unrealistic. I know ford has put the mustang in the cheap budget to get past some uncertain seasons in terms of vehicle trends. But lackadaisical advancements isn’t going to help dismal sales numbers.

I want higher sales too, but if they had invested tens of millions more, then they would be more likely to discontine. It's not just mustang sales dropping, it's all muscle cars and sports cars dropping. Corvette, challenger, charger, Camaro... None are selling well. When people don't have money, they can't buy toys. The solution isn't to invest more and raise the price even more.

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[9secondko]

I want higher sales too, but if they had invested tens of millions more, then they would be more likely to discontine. It's not just mustang sales dropping, it's all muscle cars and sports cars dropping. Corvette, challenger, charger, Camaro... None are selling well. When people don't have money, they can't buy toys. The solution isn't to invest more and raise the price even more.

of course the economy is part of it as I’ve already posted.

and sports/pony cars are not selling well in a market where an ev grocery getter can outperform the sports car. It’s a different world and the sports car needs to have a reason to exist. Carryover from yesteryear is not the answer and continuing in that vein will only see this trend continue.

The corvette has always been a niche seller. But it has done what it needed to do to be relevant in this new era. It redefined what it was while staying true to its core and is the far far better performer for it.

I’ve already covered the fact that ford cheaped out this gen and why they did it. But there is more they could have done without exponential increase in R&D. Weight reduction at the platform level would have been extremely welcome. Everything from non-exotic material changes, to thicknesses and tolerances to exhaust systems, etc would have made a difference. They didn’t need to spend like crazy. They just needed to care. Put an enthusiast in charge. Even the dark horse, as beloved as it is by its fans, is just what the GT should have been, minus the polarizing appearance.

 

[Mustang1987]

of course the economy is part of it as I’ve already posted.

and sports/pony cars are not selling well in a market where an ev grocery getter can outperform the sports car. It’s a different world and the sports car needs to have a reason to exist. Carryover from yesteryear is not the answer and continuing in that vein will only see this trend continue.

The corvette has always been a niche seller. But it has done what it needed to do to be relevant in this new era. It redefined what it was while staying true to its core and is the far far better performer for it.

I’ve already covered the fact that ford cheaped out this gen and why they did it. But there is more they could have done without exponential increase in R&D. Weight reduction at the platform level would have been extremely welcome. Everything from non-exotic material changes, to thicknesses and tolerances to exhaust systems, etc would have made a difference. They didn’t need to spend like crazy. They just needed to care. Put an enthusiast in charge. Even the dark horse, as beloved as it is by its fans, is just what the GT should have been, minus the polarizing appearance.

The Corvette is a niche seller because it costs so much. If Ford put more money into the R&D, the mustang would cost more than it does now, and I guarantee it would not sell more. The enthusiasts like us on this board are already going to buy it. It needs to be affordable to the general public who aren't enthusiasts.

 

[9secondko]

The Corvette is a niche seller because it costs so much. If Ford put more money into the R&D, the mustang would cost more than it does now, and I guarantee it would not sell more. The enthusiasts like us on this board are already going to buy it. It needs to be affordable to the general public who aren't enthusiasts.

incorrect. As it is, ford has put very little into the s650. It’s mostly carryover from the previous gen. And they’re still charging like it’s all new. Lol.

and the vette hasn’t been aniche just on price. 2 seats is a hard sell. But it’s definitely worth the money for everyone in that market. No one is going to say it’s not equitable for the asking price nowadays.

 

[Mustang1987]

incorrect. As it is, ford has put very little into the s650. It’s mostly carryover from the previous gen. And they’re still charging like it’s all new. Lol.

and the vette hasn’t been aniche just on price. 2 seats is a hard sell. But it’s definitely worth the money for everyone in that market. No one is going to say it’s not equitable for the asking price nowadays.

Not incorrect... If you spend more on r&d, it'll cost more. The mustang GT costs 9k more than the generation that came out nine years ago. That's lower than the rate of inflation.

The Corvette is more niche because of the price moreso than two seats. If you don't believe that then ask yourself, would the Corvette sell more if they added two tiny little seats in the back, or would they sell more if they came off $20k? Lol

 

[9secondko]

The Corvette is a niche seller because it costs so much. If Ford put more money into the R&D, the mustang would cost more than it does now, and I guarantee it would not sell more. The enthusiasts like us on this board are already going to buy it. It needs to be affordable to the general public who aren't enthusiasts.

More people buy 4 seats not only in price. You have teslas, etc that cost corvette money snd people buy them for convenience. You can fit more people if you have to or put some stuff in the back seat.
Of course rice is a factor. That’s a universal rule. But so is useability and convenience. A 2 seater is extremely limiting and most people feel restricted with no options. The vette is a niche seller because it has a mission: be the (somewhat) attainable American Ferrari - go as fast and handle was well as possible. It’s not just price. Let’s not forget the c8 was CHEAPER than the gt500 mustang for a while. It’s not about why the vette is niche. It’s supposed to be. Let’s put it this way: the people who’d buy a corvette are looking at more value than ever with the c8 variants. It’s basically a Lamborghini/ferrari at accessible prices. The vette picked up a ton of buyers at launch and continues to do well for its category - a hard sell expensive 2 seater, but one that will reward you with unbelievable exotic level performance - which is why people buy that car- tomorrows performance today.

Contrast with the mustang, which is also expensive these days, but hasn’t earned the right to be. You get yesterdays performance at tomorrows prices. Make that make sense.

the discussion is not about the vette. It’s about the mustangs dismal sales numbers. And make no mistake, the numbers are BAD. hopefully they rebound. But that’s Camaro-scenario if it keeps up. In order for the mustang to succeed moving forward, it needs to punch a heck of a lot harder. It shouldn’t get beat by grandmas grocery getter or other run of the mill vehicles. That just destroys the whole point of the mustang: and accessible sports car that goes fast as heck (not lambo fast, but faster than most anything out there), handles well (I know, traditionally a mustang sore spot), and looks great doing it. The mustang is an ICON. but lately it feels as though it stopped training to win and is instead In the rocking chair living off of past memories. They’re putting an old, tired horse on the racetrack with a cool new name and some new logo stickers. But it’s the same old bones. And everyone knows it. Mustang buyers are an enthusiast bunch. And once the launch of the “new car!” Vibe goes away, folks want something to be excited about. And so far, there isn’t much there that they hadn’t already gotten years ago. That’s where the corvette analogy comes in. Instead of trotting out last gen with a makeover, they brought out junior. New, full of testosterone a big ol chip on his shoulder and ready to rip. That’s what we want with mustang. That makes dollars make sense. That would excite the enthusiasts and give them a reason to not move onto something else. That would also be more attractive to some looking at other performance vehicles that may not already have been mustang fans.i personally know many folks who love the idea of the mustang but feel it’s not that fast and doesn’t handle that well so they’ll spend more money to get what they want from a different brand. And the rest? They’ll get a Tesla. Or an suv, because a pony car isn’t compelling.

as I’ve said before, I get why ford did this. They didn’t know how to proceed. So they played it safe in order to weather the storm. But playing it safe means little return. So I hope they take these numbers for what they are - an appropriate response for what they’ve marketed. And when they are ready to really push things, keep things like the c8 in mind regarding punching above its weight class.

 

[Mustang1987]

More people buy 4 seats not only in price. You have teslas, etc that cost corvette money snd people buy them for convenience. You can fit more people if you have to or put some stuff in the back seat.
Of course rice is a factor. That’s a universal rule. But so is useability and convenience. A 2 seater is extremely limiting and most people feel restricted with no options. The vette is a niche seller because it has a mission: be the (somewhat) attainable American Ferrari - go as fast and handle was well as possible. It’s not just price. Let’s not forget the c8 was CHEAPER than the gt500 mustang for a while. It’s not about why the vette is niche. It’s supposed to be. Let’s put it this way: the people who’d buy a corvette are looking at more value than ever with the c8 variants. It’s basically a Lamborghini/ferrari at accessible prices. The vette picked up a ton of buyers at launch and continues to do well for its category - a hard sell expensive 2 seater, but one that will reward you with unbelievable exotic level performance - which is why people buy that car- tomorrows performance today.

Contrast with the mustang, which is also expensive these days, but hasn’t earned the right to be. You get yesterdays performance at tomorrows prices. Make that make sense.

the discussion is not about the vette. It’s about the mustangs dismal sales numbers. And make no mistake, the numbers are BAD. hopefully they rebound. But that’s Camaro-scenario if it keeps up. In order for the mustang to succeed moving forward, it needs to punch a heck of a lot harder. It shouldn’t get beat by grandmas grocery getter or other run of the mill vehicles. That just destroys the whole point of the mustang: and accessible sports car that goes fast as heck (not lambo fast, but faster than most anything out there), handles well (I know, traditionally a mustang sore spot), and looks great doing it. The mustang is an ICON. but lately it feels as though it stopped training to win and is instead In the rocking chair living off of past memories. They’re putting an old, tired horse on the racetrack with a cool new name and some new logo stickers. But it’s the same old bones. And everyone knows it. Mustang buyers are an enthusiast bunch. And once the launch of the “new car!” Vibe goes away, folks want something to be excited about. And so far, there isn’t much there that they hadn’t already gotten years ago. That’s where the corvette analogy comes in. Instead of trotting out last gen with a makeover, they brought out junior. New, full of testosterone a big ol chip on his shoulder and ready to rip. That’s what we want with mustang. That makes dollars make sense. That would excite the enthusiasts and give them a reason to not move onto something else. That would also be more attractive to some looking at other performance vehicles that may not already have been mustang fans.i personally know many folks who love the idea of the mustang but feel it’s not that fast and doesn’t handle that well so they’ll spend more money to get what they want from a different brand. And the rest? They’ll get a Tesla. Or an suv, because a pony car isn’t compelling.

as I’ve said before, I get why ford did this. They didn’t know how to proceed. So they played it safe in order to weather the storm. But playing it safe means little return. So I hope they take these numbers for what they are - an appropriate response for what they’ve marketed. And when they are ready to really push things, keep things like the c8 in mind regarding punching above its weight class.

You say this, but it's selling better than the Corvette. It's the best selling sports car/muscle car...even with these numbers. To make it sell more, they have to bring the price down more, not make it more niche. What you're saying is put more into r&d, make it even faster and more horsepower, probably lower it so it drives better, make it more niche and charge more lol That's how you sell less (look at Corvette). That's fine if you think that's what needs to happen is for it to find a niche and stay there like the Corvette and just make a competitor to that, but Fords goal with the mustang is to make an affordable sports car, and that was always their goal.

And I get what you're saying about the ev grocery getter being competitive in performance. But the ev grocery getter is going to be competitive to anything. You can get a Model S for under $80k and it goes from 0-60 in 1.99 seconds lol soon that will be every EV. Companies will be putting limiters to how fast they actually go so they're not dangerous. A $200k ice performance car won't even be able to compete with that, so trying to compete with that isn't the way to go either.

 

[9secondko]

You say this, but it's selling better than the Corvette. It's the best selling sports car/muscle car...even with these numbers. To make it sell more, they have to bring the price down more, not make it more niche. What you're saying is put more into r&d, make it even faster and more horsepower, probably lower it so it drives better, make it more niche and charge more lol That's how you sell less (look at Corvette). That's fine if you think that's what needs to happen is for it to find a niche and stay there like the Corvette and just make a competitor to that, but Fords goal with the mustang is to make an affordable sports car, and that was always their goal.

And I get what you're saying about the ev grocery getter being competitive in performance. But the ev grocery getter is going to be competitive to anything. You can get a Model S for under $80k and it goes from 0-60 in 1.99 seconds lol soon that will be every EV. Companies will be putting limiters to how fast they actually go so they're not dangerous. A $200k ice performance car won't even be able to compete with that, so trying to compete with that isn't the way to go either.

Again, the point isn’t direct sales comparison since they are different markets. The mustang is as mass market as a pony car can be. The corvette is and always has been the niche true sports car. A lot of sacrifice for a lot of performance. The mustang is the liveable blend of convenience and performance.

the point is the corvette has done what it takes to justify being what it is in todays market. The mustang, once the hottest thing around for enthusiasts, looks to be in life support considering its usual status. Even right at launch, the numbers were well below what they should have been. It’s not just the economy or just the market. It’s the actual substance of the car - what you get for the money.

I understand the point about EVs having better initial acceleration due to instant torque. That’s why enthusiast cars need to figure this out. Either full ev, hybrid, etc. handling especially needs to be a standout feature.

the point isn’t to make the mustang more niche, but to do more with what it is. It already doesn’t contribute much to fords bottom line in comparison to killer sales vehicles like f series. It’s fords halo car. Unfortunately that halo is looking pretty dull. It’s all about choices.

If you don’t invest, you don’t see a return. This generation of mustang is what it is. They’ll come out with high priced huge horsepower cars snd people will be raging over it for a couple months. Then it will be this again. This gen is what it is. My points can apply to the following gen unfortunately. Ford can only band-aid this one. But the mustang needs to reinvent from the ground up. It doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg to do that anymore than the Mach e did or the c8 did. It’s all about choices in the boardroom. I just hope to heck some actual enthusiasts get injected into the boardroom so we can see the Mustang redefine the segment for the future. Continuing on with the old horse running the way it always ram isn’t going to cut it. It needs to reinvent. And no I don’t mean turn it into a truck.

 

[Mustang1987]

Again, the point isn’t direct sales comparison since they are different markets. The mustang is as mass market as a pony car can be. The corvette is and always has been the niche true sports car. A lot of sacrifice for a lot of performance. The mustang is the liveable blend of convenience and performance.

the point is the corvette has done what it takes to justify being what it is in todays market. The mustang, once the hottest thing around for enthusiasts, looks to be in life support. Even right at launch, the numbers were well below what they should have been.

Your first paragraph is what I've been saying lol the mustang is supposed to be affordable to the general public. You're saying make it even more performance oriented (niche) and raise the price because more r&d will be spent.

(Edit)
Also, in a couple years when $40k EVs outperform the $100k Corvette, it will be in the same position unfortunately.

 

[samson]

The 2018-2023 are so round and bubbly looking. The 2024 has sharp, hard defined lines and corners. The previous year is a lot softer in my opinion.

Agree. I really like the new front end. More chiseled and masculine look. The S550 was a great looking car, but a bit too round and soft looking by comparison. The S650 just has an angrier look up front.

 

[9secondko]

Your first paragraph is what I've been saying lol the mustang is supposed to be affordable to the general public. You're saying make it even more performance oriented (niche) and raise the price because more r&d will be spent.

(Edit)
Also, in a couple years when $40k EVs outperform the $100k Corvette, it will be in the same position unfortunately.

again, attainable and amazing aren’t mutually exclusive. Look at the Fox mustang or the 1993 Camaro. Those weren’t crazy expensive unattainable cars. They were examples of punching way above their weight, offered unbelievable exotic performance for their day at Everyman prices. As I said before, it’s all about choices. Ford just needs to WANT TO do something special with the car. At the platform level. That kind of platform investment will bear fruit for decades. What we have now is basically a 3 generation , 20 year old platform with band-aids. Its time.

 

[Mustang1987]

again, attainable and amazing aren’t mutually exclusive. Look at the Fox mustang or the 1993 Camaro. Those weren’t crazy expensive unattainable cars. They were examples of punching way above their weight, offered unbelievable exotic performance for their day at Everyman prices. As I said before, it’s all about choices. Ford just needs to WANT TO do something special with the car. At the platform level. That kind of platform investment will bear fruit for decades. What we have now is basically a 3 generation , 20 year old platform with band-aids. Its time.

Attainable and amazing are mutually exclusive when you're comparing it to EVs performance wise unfortunately, which you are. To compete with that, you get into very expensive territory with an ICE.

The Corvette does 0-60 in 3 secs which is great. Car and Driver tested the mustang and does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. So would sells double if they could shave a few tenths of a second off but have to raise the price even more? Doubt it. I guess when the Shelbys come out, we will see.

They just have to advertise like they advertise their other vehicles.

 

[Mustang1987]

Agree. I really like the new front end. More chiseled and masculine look. The S550 was a great looking car, but a bit too round and soft looking by comparison. The S650 just has an angrier look up front.

Yeah, you can really see the difference in that picture. Looks mean.

 

[9secondko]

Attainable and amazing are mutually exclusive when you're comparing it to EVs performance wise unfortunately, which you are. To compete with that, you get into very expensive territory with an ICE.

The Corvette does 0-60 in 3 secs which is great. Car and Driver tested the mustang and does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. So would sells double if they could shave a few tenths of a second off but have to raise the price even more? Doubt it. I guess when the Shelbys come out, we will see.

They just have to advertise like they advertise their other vehicles.

amazing and attainable are not mutually exclusive. You just have to have a goal and be smart to get there. This is true for anything from industrial design to stage design and lighting to multimedia setups, to vehicle engines frames and industrial design to civil engineering.
I gave you examples of how that has been done in the past. For the prices ford is charging for yesterdays tech, they can offer a much better car. And I’m not just talking about ICE as already stated.

what your advocating for is yesterdays status quo for tomorrow. Not sustainable.

 

[Zquez]

I think the #1 reason bar none that the Mustang isn’t selling is that the economy sucks. Discretionary income is hard to come by nowadays, interest rates are crazy, and the average cost of a car payment is rapidly approaching a mortgage. Inflation has made everyday necessities eat up more of the budget. I know I would have a 24 in my garage by now if that weren’t the sad reality.

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