Dodge Challenger Beats Mustang, Camaro in 2020 Q3

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Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

Dodge sold more than 16,000 examples of the Challenger, beating the Mustang by 2,481 units.

The entire auto industry is struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Dodge Challenger has weathered the storm the best, leading the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro in sales through the third quarter of 2020. After enjoy several years of solid growth, the muscle cars and the industry as a whole has seen a steep decline across every segment. Fortunately, the Dodge Challenger has seen less decline than the competitors, allowing it to beat the Mustang and Camaro in 2020 Q3.

Challenger Leads 2020 Q3

In the third quarter of 2020, Dodge sold 16,332 examples of the Challenger. That is down 9% from the same three-month period in 2019, when they sent out 18,031 new Mopar muscle cars. However, that 9% decline was the smallest in the segment by a significant margin, allowing the Challenger to be the bestselling performance coupe in the U.S.A. This is the first quarterly win for the Challenger since the third quarter of 2019.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

The Ford Mustang was second in segment sales for the period consisting of July, August and September with 13,851 units sold. That is a decline of 17.7% from last year’s Q3 figure of 16,823. Prior to this, the Mustang led the segment in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, along with Q4 of 2019.

The Chevrolet Camaro was a distant third in the segment with 8,366 units sold, down nearly 32% from the same quarter last year. The Camaro has been in third place in the segment sales race since November 2017.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

That figure of 8,366 units sold leads to an average over those three months of 2,788 Camaros sold each month. For comparison, Dodge sold roughly 5,444 Challengers per month and Ford sold 4,617 Mustangs per month.

2020 Annual Race

On the year, the Ford Mustang is still out front with 47,637 units sold, down 14% from the first nine months of 2019. The Dodge Challenger is second in 2020 sales with 38,350 units sold, down 18% from the year before. The Chevrolet Camaro is third on the year in sales with just 22,226 units sold. That represents a decline of nearly 40% from the year before and if the Camaro doesn’t post a strong quarter to end 2020, the Chevy muscle car will record its worst sales year ever.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

The Camaro is in a tailspin that isn’t going to end without some major changes, but even with the pandemic, things aren’t going too badly for the Dodge Challenger. The Challenger trails the Mustang by 9,287 units. Realistically, it is unlikely that Dodge will be able to outsell Ford by a large enough margin to claim the annual title, but for the third year in a row, the Challenger will rank second in the list of the bestselling two-door coupes in America.

Photos for Dodge Forum by Patrick Rall

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"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com


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