Dodge Challenger Claims its First Muscle Car Sales Title

Dodge Challenger beat Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro in annual sales in 2021.

When the sales numbers for the 2021 calendar year were issued earlier this week, we learned that the Dodge Challenger outsold both the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro last year.

This is the first time that the Dodge has led the segment in annual sales in the modern era, but it is also the first time in the history of the Challenger nameplate.

While the Challenger was always a strong seller during the previous generations, even during the Mitsubishi-made models of the late-70s and early-80s, the nameplate has never led its segment in sales – until now.

Many Ford and Chevy fans are going to try to blame Covid-based production issues or component shortages, but the Dodge Challenger assembly line has been halted plenty in the past year.

That has led to incredibly low inventory levels of the Mopar muscle car, but even with all of those issues, the Challenger posted positive growth over 2020 while both the Camaro and Mustang saw their numbers dip from last year.

Annual Sales Race

The Challenger posted three strong quarters to begin the year, allowing Dodge to lead the segment heading into the final quarter of 2021. The Ford Mustang, sitting second after Q3, actually outsold the Challenger by a small margin during Q4, but it wasnt enough to close the gap.

Dodge ended the year with a total of 54,314 Challengers sold, up 3% from 2020. Meanwhile, the Ford Mustang closed the year with 52,414 units sold, down 14% from the year before, allowing the Mopar muscle car to claim the segment title by a margin of 1,900 units.

Meanwhile, the Chevrolet Camaro mustered just 21,893 units sold in 2021, which is the worst sales year ever for the model. General Motors is letting the Camaro die a slow, boring death and consumers are taking notice – opting for the Corvette or something from the competition.

While the Challenger has aged like fine wine, the Camaro has aged like gallon of milk left sitting in the sun.

Challenger 2021 Sales Figures

Stellantis shares sales numbers by quarter and the strongest quarter for the Dodge Challenger was Q1, when 15,096 units were sold. That was followed by 15,052 in Q2, 13,994 in Q3 and 10,172 in Q4.

The Challenger outsold the Mustang in the second and third quarter while the Mustang led the first and forth, but the huge margin in Q3, when Ford sold only 9,115 Mustangs, allowed the Challenger to build and insurmountable lead.

While Dodge Challenger sales are up in 2021 compared to 2020, the numbers have slumped a bit from the pre-pandemic era, when the car was a bit fresher.

Prior to the introduction of the 2015 models – with the Scat Pack and Hellcat trim levels – the Challenger had been pacing around 51,000 units for a couple of years.

In 2015, Challenger sales jumped to 66,365 and stayed in the mid-60,000 range through 2016, 2017 and 2018. Sales still topped 60,000 in 2019, but the impact of the pandemic was really felt in 2020, when the Challenger total sales dropped to 52,995.

It will be interesting to see how the Dodge Challenger sells in the final few years of availability. We know that the current car will be offered for a couple more model years and in those years, the brand has all sorts of plans to help boost sales.

We don’t expect gobs more power, but we can expect more colors, trim levels and packages to help make the current power plants that much more enticing to buyers.

In any case, the Dodge Challenger is the muscle car sales leader for 2021, using big power to post positive growth in a shrinking segment.

Photos: Dodge

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Patrick Rall

"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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