Mustang Sustains Its Global Dominance As Best-Selling Sports Coupe

As the Ford Mustang charges toward blowing out the candles on its 57th birthday cake on April 17, the original pony car once again accomplished a sales milestone. For the past six years, the IHS Markit data anointed the Blue Oval stallion as the world’s best-selling sports coupe on the merits of 80,577 units sold across the globe.

Mustang enthusiasts love their performance cars, and they showed that yet again… — Hau Thai-Tang, Ford

Interestingly, for enthusiasts, a surge in sales of high-performance models helped push the pony car across the finish line in first place. Not only were customers driving away in the new Shelby GT500, but scooping up the specialty rides at the sunset of their production cycles, including the Bullitt, Shelby GT350, and Shelby GT350R. Sales for those limited-production vehicles jumped by 52.7 percent in 2020.

Good news for fans of high-performance Mustangs is that sales of the Shelby GT500, Shelby GT350, and Mustang Bullitt spiked at the end of 2020 and helped push the Mustang to its sixth consecutive title as the best-selling sports coupe. (Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company)

“Mustang enthusiasts love their performance cars, and they showed that yet again,” said Hau Thai-Tang, chief product platform and operations officer, Ford Motor Company. “In a challenging year for the entire auto industry because of the global pandemic, Mustang performed very well, increasing its share in the global sports car segment.”

In 2020 Mustang sales accounted for 15.1 percent of the sports coupe market, which is slight jump from its 2019 market share of 14.8 percent. In the United States, the warm-weather states like California, Florida, and Texas continue as Mustang strongholds. There were 8,600 new Mustang owners in Texas, while California gained 6,200 new owners and Florida added 5,864.

Year over year, Mustang sales increased from 14.8 percent to 15.1 percent of the global sports car market.

In other parts of the world, Mustang sales enjoyed significant spikes, Hungary led the way with a 68.8-percent jump in sales, while sales in the Netherlands grew significantly by 38.5 percent. Additionally, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Austria all saw minor sales bumps of 12.5, 5.6, and 4 percent respectively.

Of course, Ford is hoping to continue that momentum with the 2021 Mustang Mach 1 rolling out across the globe. Additionally, the 2021 Mustang Mach-E, while not a sports coupe, is off to a strong sales start in 2021.

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Steve Turner

Steve Turner brings decades of passion and knowledge in the world of Ford performance, having covered it for over 20 years. From the swan song of the Fox Mustang to the birth of the Coyote, Steve had a front-row seat.
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