One of the most iconic pony cars is the Ford Mustang. And though its glory days are behind it, it’s still a popular muscle car. However, it faces fierce competition from the Dodge Challenger. And as far as sales are concerned, the Challenger is the king of muscle cars. It outsold the Mustang in 2022.

The Dodge Challenger is outselling the Ford Mustang 

Ford Authority recently published the latest sales numbers for the two-door muscle car segment. And once again, the Dodge Challenger is the best-selling option in the segment. It’s a relatively recent development because the Mustang has dominated the sales charts in its segment for decades. In 2021, it was still a close race between the Mustang and the Challenger, but ultimately, Dodge pulled ahead.

Dodge sold roughly 54,000 units, while Ford sold about 52,000, a difference of 2,000. The Challenger accounted for 42% of sales in the two-door muscle car segment, while the Mustang took 41%. 2022 was when the two cars diverged even more, and that happened because the Challenger took a big lead over the Mustang.

Dodge Challenger sales increased further over the previous year

In 2022, Dodge sold 55,000 Challengers, while Ford sold about 47,500 Mustangs. That’s a difference of about 7,500 vehicles. It also meant Ford lost a more significant percentage of its market share, as Mustang sales accounted for only 37% of the segment sales, while the Challenger represented 43%. 

More notable, however, Dodge sold 1.3% more Challengers in 2022 than in 2021. Ford, on the other hand, sold 9.3% fewer Mustangs year-over-year. There’s only one other muscle car in the segment, the Chevy Camaro. Like the Challenger, Camaro saw its sales increase year-over-year.

As a result of those sales differences, the Mustang was solely responsible for a 1% drop in total sales for the segment as a whole. While the muscle car segment has never been the best-selling class, this overall drop in sales largely involves issues beyond Dodge, Ford, or Chevy’s control.

Why is the Challenger selling so well?

The semiconductor chip shortage, which began on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, damaged the auto industry in 2021 and 2022. There were also other supply chain issues that, combined with the chip shortage, caused more problems for every automaker. Ford was no exception, and like other automakers, the company had to prioritize supplies to certain models. 

As a whole, Ford also had to slow or halt production temporarily because there weren’t enough supplies on hand. That reduced the number of vehicles sent to dealerships, which increased car prices for consumers. As a result, 2022 sales numbers show a model’s popularity and the number of units the automaker got off the assembly line.

According to Ford Authority, rivals in the two-door muscle car segment seemingly outproduced Ford. Furthermore, the Blue Oval was frugal in its customer incentives, while Dodge was generous. Those factors likely helped push the Challenger over the Mustang in 2022.