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Originally Posted by Blue Maro Demon
Well at this point after being outsold by the 5th GEN Camaro for 2 & a half years now Ford has BUT one choice and one choice only. They can either get their design team to actually build a good looking car from a design standpoint with their new 6th Gen Mustang or they are doomed. As we all know the performance of a vehicle is great and all but it doesnt translate as well as a cars design when it comes to actual sales and getting people to part with their money in their wallet. The 4th Gen Camaro and previous Camaros taught us that lesson the Mustang sold because of its design but yet more times than not it got spanked by the Camaro performance wise up until the current gen heavy Camaro.
But Ford wont have ANY advantages this next round of Pony/Muscle car sales wars. The performance differences between the two cars will be closer than ever more than likely this next generation with Ford more than likely not having its significant weight advantage to make it a bit faster like it currently has. More than likely both cars will weigh as close to identical in a looong time with the 6th Gen Camaro being on the alpha platform plus things recently in the news about GM buying more in the way of carbon fiber for other vehicles. And lets face it neither of these cars will probably go down in weight to 2,900lbs we are probably talking lower 3,400 to 3,200 weights of the cars. Plus the Gen 5 V8 from next years C7 Corvette unveil will likely be one of the many engines for the 6th gen Camaro with a rumored 440 to 470hp rating from a lighter 5.5 liter & lets not forget the likely mpg fightings from a Mustang SHO & Camaro turbo 4-cylinder. Basically Camaro has Ford backed into a corner either build an incredibly designed Mustang that looks better than Chevrolets 6th Gen Camaro or they are done for maybe forever from a sales standpoint & if the new Lincoln MKZ are ANY indication Ford has a long way to go when it comes to design. Yeah the new Fusion looks alright but we will see. Also another advantage Chevrolet will have is the Mustang will come out first a year in advance it could give Chevrolet an opportunity to make the Camaro lighter than the Mustang from the get go. Add in the fact that EVERY kid off the block thinks the Camaro is the coolest car on the road thanks to the Transformers movies they will more than likely signal any new Camaro in that way now which translates to future Camaro sales. Ford has an uphill battle now and its going to be interesting to see the effect the 6th gen Camaro has on the market when it is released.  |
I disagree here. the mustang is not in danger and isn't about to go anywhere. If cars sol on looks alone, the Camry certainly would not be the best selling car around. The Camaro just had factors in it's favor, mainly a pent up demand of 8 years out of prouction. It is also basically the only affordable performance car in GMs portfolio. No G8, no Trans Am, not even a Cobalt come Cruze SS. Saleswise they are really close, it is not like the Camaro is Selling 100k more units than the Mustang a year.