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Pony-car sales war: Mustang vs. Camaro vs. Challenger [UPDATE]

Update: An earlier version of this story misstated the 2015 Mustang's weight when compared with previous models. Additionally, we have added comments from Chevrolet in the text. The Ford Mustang has blown past the Chevy Camaro as America's best-selling pony car, and in June, it wasn't even close. The 'Stang outsold the Camaro 11,719 to 8,611 cars. The Camaro remained ahead of the Dodge Challenger, which sold 6,845 units. Even though the Camaro did post an 11.5-percent sales improvement in June, the competition is arguably stronger than at anytime since the 1970s muscle-car era. The Mustang's sales leapt a whopping 53.6 percent, while the Challenger saw a gain of 56 percent. Several factors are weighing down Camaro sales, including its lame duck status. Chevy is launching a new generation of the Camaro this year that's more than 200 pounds lighter, offers a new turbo four-cylinder engine option, and has a nicer interior than the outgoing model. Put simply: wait a few months and you can get a better car. It's also unlikely Chevy will jack up the price much, as it's historically kept the Camaro within reach of everyday enthusiasts. While Chevy fans wait in anticipation for their new sports car, Ford and Dodge have downshifted. The new Mustang, which went on sale last year, is faster and more sophisticated than its predecessor. It also offers a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder, which Ford has credited for the Mustang's recent uptick and makes up 36 percent of the car's sales, Ford analyst Erich Merkle said. View 17 Photos June's performance allowed the Mustang to widen its sales gap with the Camaro this year. Through the first five months, Ford sold 68,290 Mustangs, a 54.4-percent increased compared with 2014. Chevy sold 42,593 Camaros, an 8.7-percent decrease. The Challenger – long the No. 3 pony car in sales volume – has seen its sales surge 41 percent this year to 37,011 units. Spokesman Monte Doran said Chevy expected that 2015 would be a "relatively soft year" for the Camaro. "Mustang is taking advantage of years' worth of pent-up demand for an independent rear suspension," he said. "When Camaro introduced an IRS, in 2009, it helped make us the best-selling performance car in America.

Dodge, Jeep and Ram could soon be owned by Chinese automakers

For the past several years, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has made it widely known that the automaker he helms is up for grabs. First, he sent an email to GM CEO Mary Barra, who immediately refused to even discuss a merger. Later, Marchionne set his sights on Volkswagen. That too was swiftly rebuffed. It seemed like no global automaker was remotely interested in a partnership. Now, Automotive News reports that several Chinese automakers have come calling, only FCA isn't ready to answer. At least not yet. The news broke this morning that a major Chinese automaker had made an offer to purchase FCA for slightly above market value. FCA refused, saying the offer wasn't quite generous enough. It's unclear which automaker made the offer, but Automotive News says there's more than one interested party. FCA representatives have recently traveled to China to meet with Great Wall Motors, while Chinese representatives were seen at FCA corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Chinese government has a lot of money invested in local automakers. It's putting pressure on these automakers to expand globally, including to the United States. As it stands, it's a matter of when a Chinese automaker will start selling cars here, not if. Purchasing an established automaker with a wide range of products and a huge dealer network would do wonders in giving the Chinese a foothold here. Sure, Geely owns Volvo, but a luxury automaker doesn't have nearly as much reach as a more mainstream company like FCA. This seems like the best case scenario for both a Chinese automaker looking to move into the U.S. and for FCA, at least from a business standpoint. The latter doesn't seem to have any other interested parties. It will be interesting to see how FCA would sell a deal like this to the public. We're not sure everyone will be happy with Dodge, Jeep and Ram falling under Chinese ownership. FCA didn't turn down the Chinese because they didn't like the idea. It turned down the offer because there wasn't enough money on the table. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News Earnings/Financials Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM

2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock is as close as you can get to a new Demon

Although the Dodge Demon was an exclusive, one-year-only muscle car, Dodge has found ways of getting bits of that car to more people. First there was the Hellcat Redeye, that got a detuned version of the Demon engine, down from 840 horsepower to 797. Now there's the 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock. It starts with the Hellcat Redeye, but adds a bit of horsepower, and drag race-specific tires and suspension tuning to get one step closer to the monster Demon. The engine is basically the same supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 as the Redeye, but with a new engine calibration that bumps up horsepower by 10 to 807, though torque stays the same at 707 pound-feet. It's coupled to the same eight-speed automatic as the Hellcat Redeye, but it has also been retuned to shift 100 rpm later at 6,400 rather than 6,300 to squeeze as much out of each gear as possible. The rear differential is a limited-slip unit and comes standard with a 3.09:1 gear ratio, which is optional on regular Hellcat Redeyes. The Super Stock also gets revised chassis components. Instead of the regular Hellcat Brembo six-piston brakes up front, it gets lighter four-piston Brembo calipers with slightly smaller rotors, all in the name of going faster at the drag strip. The suspension has been retuned to shift weight to the rear wheels and improve traction at launch. In Track mode, the suspension switches to fully firm rebound and compression at the rear, and firm compression and soft rebound at the front to help facilitate the weight transfer. It stays in this mode as long as full throttle is applied, and reverts to the standard Track settings when lifting off the throttle. The final piece of the drag racing puzzle are the wheels and tires. The regular Redeye's huge wheels and low profile tires are gone in favor of wheels that are just 18 inches in diameter. They're fitted with Nitto NT05R drag radials, the same make and model as on the Demon, at each corner for maximum traction at the strip. These are also the only indicators that you have a Super Stock. All the other badging is the same as the Hellcat Redeye, so only those in the know will recognize a Super Stock model. The final results of these drag-racing enhancements are impressive. Dodge claims a 0-60 time of 3.25 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds. Apparently it will finish three car lengths ahead of a regular Redeye at the drag strip. Top speed is less formidable at 168 mph, but that's a limit of the drag tires.