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MINI numbers are surprising – for something a few years into its product cycle, with a seemingly niche market, they’re doing pretty well.
This must be the first time in decades that the Camaro has outsold the Mustang.
Wait for the total year numbers. I think the vast majority of Mustang buyers were waiting for the new engines they just made available on the 2011’s.
Didn’t realize Miata sales were that slow. Outsold by the Eclipse!
Miata is a true weekend warrior car – a 2nd or 3rd vehicle purchase vs. an Eclipse which is bought by secretaries looking for something sporty to drive 365 days a year (I’m not sure Mitsu is still selling them to rental fleets too).
Good point.
A Miata can be an only car if you’re a single person who doesn’t need to haul a lot of stuff, especially since they have a hardtop model now. The trunk though small can carry a about a decent amount of groceries for a one-person household, unlike the failed Solstice/Sky’s trunks, which could barely hold a large pizza with the top down.
I like the Miata, but I could never own one. I can’t sit in one without my head pushing against the fabric with the top up, and with the top down it’s easier to look over the windshield than through it, which doesn’t feel incredibly safe while driving it.
The Solstice/Sky are better as far as interior space goes, but I still feel like I am sitting uncomfortably close to the steering wheel in those.
Strangely enough, there is plenty of room inside of a Mini cooper, coupe or convertible, even though it isn’t that much larger than a Miata.
I test drove a Miata once for the hell of it. (Comparing to a Suzuki X-90 if you can believe it.) As a track toy it would be entertaining, but lacking even the barest hint of space behind the seats, it’s ridiculous as a daily driver, or even a weekend fun runner. In order to fit the salesman into the car with me, I had to put my 4″-thick briefcase in the trunk. That fails the “even token accommodation to usability” test. Why bother even providing a passenger seat?
When I was a kid, we were able to put 3 kids in the space behind the seats of my Dad’s Triumph Spitfire. It had a padded shelf back there where you could stow a couple of kids, or a couple of suitcases, or 4-5 bags of groceries.
The Spitfire is a 2-seat Roadster. Manual folding soft top. Longitudinal mount I-4 motor, conventional 4 speed transmission, rear drive. 4 wheel independent suspension. 58″ wide, 155″ long, on an 83″ wheelbase. 9.9 gallon fuel tank (IIRC mounted vertically between the trunk and the cabin.)
The Miata is a 2-seat Roadster. Manual folding soft top. Longitudinal mount I-4 motor, conventional 5 (or 6) speed transmission, rear drive. 66″ wide, 12.7 gallon fuel tank. (and 3 kids take up a hell of a lot more volume than 3 gallons) 155″ long on an 89″ wheelbase.
IOW, they’re essentially exactly the same car, and the Miata is BIGGER. Where the hell did all the cabin space go?
I would not characterize the Mustang or Camaro and 1/3 of that chart as “weekend / toy” cars. The Stang and Camaro happen to be primary driving cars for all year for many people. Minis…I’ve not known anyone who ever bought one specifically for driving 2 days a week or in great weather only.
The chart needs to be changed significantly and make one for Muscle Coupes (Stang, Camaro,etc.), Sporty Cars (Mini, Eos, Beetle, etc.) and then one for more Exotic cars like (Vette, 911, GTR, etc.).
Seeing a graph showing how much the Stang sold more than a Vette or GTR tells us didly squat (unless you can break out the Cobra sales in which it almost competitive in performance to them). You compare sales to a car’s actual competition.
I’d say the Cobra is more than almost competitive with the Vette. For about the same price the Shelby GT500 should be faster, even on a road course, than a base Corvette. Now, when you start talking Z06 or ZR1 the situation obviously changes, but those are priced quite a bit above the ‘Stang.
“Competitive” as in “pursuing the same buyer”, not “providing the same performance”.
First impression entering my addled beclouded mind is that the lower down on that chart the more and lengthier coverage given that conveyance by the writers of Car and Driver.
Uh… I can’t pick up a C and D without having to flip past yet another pointless rehash of the latest knob configurations and dashlight colors for the Mustaroallenger. Which C and D are you getting? Can I get on that list?
I think it would be more interesting to find the average retail price of each car on this list, then multiply the numbers out and order them by the total amount of money spent on each one.
VW New Beetle… lmao
People always slam Chrysler for keeping the PT Cruiser too long without any major change, but see to forget that the New Beetle has been around basically the since the last century!
I think the VW New Beetle (especially in it’s early days) vs. the Golf is another example of marketing over substance, just like the SUV vs. the minivan.
I’ve driven some New Beetles that have been trade-ins or bought at auction for our used lot, and in general I have liked them, especially the turbo models. The convertibles are fun, there is a lot of room up front, visibility is good, and the interior, while not up to current VW model standards, is better than some of the other cars in the price range.
It has some quirks, like the minivan length dash, but you could do worse for your money, especially on the used market. It does need a refresh, and thankfully one is coming, but I’d much rather drive a New Beetle than a PT Cruiser.
Yes, but a lot of those things you like can be found in a Golf/GTI–and with a more usable backseat and better utility.
I wouldn’t be caught dead in a New Beetle convertible unless my better half was the one driving, and this is coming from a former Miata owner!
True, the Golf or GTI are probably nicer in almost every way than the New Beetle. The New Beetle does have a ridiculous amount of headroom though, for whatever that’s worth.
Yeah, the New Beetle was one of the first (correct me if I’m wrong) cars to go retro… and I remember reading an article back in 1998 talking about the upcoming VW New Beetle and I was let down that the engine was going to be in the front. It certainly has been a long run.
I guess I always was annoyed that it was pegged as a “girl’s car” because I thought the design was pretty creative when it was new (and I wanted it to go mainstream, equally admired by both genders). It has held up better than most cars from the 90s though.
Amendment X –
I think you’re right. The PT Cruiser, SSR, retro Mustang, HHR, and 300C all came later. The Plymouth Prowler beat it by a year, and by several years when you consider concepts, but it was such a niche vehicle that it might not count.
There’s nothing a New Beetle can do that a Golf/GTI (closed) or Eos (open) can’t do better.
Except of course appeal to the blind nostalgia of baby boomers who pine for their childhoods in the back seats of the originals, and have blissfully forgotten what irredeemable shitboxes they were for any task higher than “transportation appliance”.
VW sold 3700 Eos in the first half of this year?? Now that really is a surprise…
Hey if I wanted a FWD convertible, it’d certainly be at the top of the list, though mostly because its competitors are so bad.
Indeed. I wonder what the best sales year was for the previous Sebring convertible. My guess would be that the current version is selling at a mere fraction of the levels that the prior model sold. It’s a shame because the prior Sebring convertible was a nice, affordable, quasi-luxury, highway cruiser that appealed to older folks who wanted to put the top down occasionally, but still get good gas mileage and had FWD.
Now, it looks like a bastardized version of the hoary old Crossfire, brand-new, years old ones are surely still sitting on a few dealer lots.
Just your typical Chrysler bungling of another one of their models that used to sell well. It is truly uncanny how badly Chrysler (and GM, for that matter) can misread the auto market.
Where’s the Mazda RX-8? (is it that low that it doesn’t even register on the sales radar?)
Yeah, that and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe as well. Also the VW GTi.
The New Beetle went from cool retro-mobile into the ultimate chick car the minute one-hit-wonder Mandy Moore drove it in her first music video in 1999. Fellow Gen Y members/Millennials know exactly what I’m talking about.