Ford Mustang bounces back to earn July’s sports segment sales crown

THE Ford Mustang has given the brand something to celebrate in July, regaining its spot at the top of the sports car sales chart for the month.

Ford sold 619 Mustangs last month compared with 346 locally made Falcons, with the American import also clinching top slot in Australia’s new-car sports segment in July.

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Although sales in May and June dipped below 400 after snaring 690 deliveries in April – its first full month on sale – Ford Mustang sales bounced back in July to account for 42.6 percent of the all sports passenger cars sold priced less than $80,000.

Not only that, but the gap between Mustang and the second place-getter in the segment – the soon-to-be-facelifted Toyota 86 – was sizable, with 450 cars separating the two. Hyundai’s Veloster hatch trailed the 86 by just three units, with 166 delivered in July.

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Looking at the sports segment as a whole, the all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe and convertible was the second biggest seller and by far the most popular model in the $80,000 to $200,000 price range. Mercedes sold 259 C-Class two-doors compared with 99 of the BMW 4 Series Coupe/Convertible/Gran Coupe range – the next most popular car in the bracket.

The only other sports cars to beat 100 sales last month were the Mazda MX-5 (112) and BMW 2 Series Coupe and Convertible (129), both of which sit with Mustang in the sub-$80,000 range.

There were 143 sports cars sold last month in the mega-dollar $200,000-plus sub-category, including 28 Porsche 911s, 19 BMW 6 Series, 18 McLarens, 17 Ferraris, 17 Mercedes-AMG GTs and 11 Audi R8s – an almost 20 percent gain for the segment compared with the same month last year.

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The slowest-selling models were the Mercedes-Benz SL, BMW i8, Nissan GT-R, Infiniti Q60 and Alfa Romeo 4C, with three sales apiece.

The sports passenger segment accounts for 2.4 percent of the market with 2174 sold across all price ranges last month, which is 499 more than sold in July last year.

Year to date sales for sports cars are also up, with 15,617 being sold in the first seven months of 2016 compared with 12,919 during the same period last year – an increase of 20.9 percent.

July 2016: Top 10 Vehicle Sales