http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/06/i...pecies-w-poll/



The 2010 Camaro has been a boon for General Motors and its Chevrolet brand, with sales of 9,150 units in April alone. The Mustang is down a bit at 5,145 units for April, but that's expected to change once the vastly improved 2011 models begin rolling into Ford dealers around the country. Even the Dodge Challenger had its best month ever in April. We can't tell you how happy it makes us that the pony car wars have once again began to boil over, but a report by Edmunds' Auto Observer correctly points out that the rest of the sports car market isn't faring nearly so well.

The report shows that sports cars like the once hot Nissan GT-R, with only 106 sales in April, are now struggling for sales. Porsche 911 sales are down 18 percent from a poor 2009, only 428 Mazda RX-8s have been sold in 2010 and Nissan failed to sell 1,000 copies of the fun to drive 370Z. Even the venerable Corvette, which saw 2007 production of over 40,000 units, is only at 3,522 units through four months of 2010.

Is the sports car on the permanent decline, or are we just hitting a big-time bump in the road? Take the poll below to give us your thoughts.

 

I think it's 1995 all over again. It's a great time to be a sports car enthusiast, but within the next 3-4 years, all the environmentalists and government fuel regulations will have killed them off again (instead of the SUVs this time) or have made them evolve into a different being. I think Toyota has the right idea with the FT-86, and Porsche with the 918 Spider (though it could never realistically produce those numbers).

 

I don't see sports cars going away, but I do see it being a lower volume, more expensive, higher profit per unit, niche business catering mostly to higher income buyers in need of "weekend" cars.

Of course the recent dismal sales numbers were partially impacted by the recessionary economy.

 

When did the Mustang and Camaro become sports cars?

 

Valid question, since a large portion of them around here are rental cars.

But maybe the pony car market is going in a similar direction as the sports car market.

 

I think that there needs to be a differentiation between "Pony" cars like the Mustang/ Camaro/Challenger and traditonal "Sports" cars like the Miata, S2000, 350/370Z, Boxster, Z3/Z4, etc....

The Mustang, for example (at least in non-Cobra models), has some very dated hardware, such as the solid/live rear axle from the 1960's. Ford, of course, did that for a reason (live axles are durable and resist damage and wear from burnouts and drop-clutch starts), but it hardly makes the Mustang a sports car, though, according to some car-mag reviews, the Mustang's well-done front suspension and handling makes up for the antiquity in the rear.

 

I agree....that is a good question. See my post #6 just above.

 

That's interesting, because I've been wondering why there aren't more 370z on the road. I remember when the 350 came out, it was selling very well. It's a shame that the 370 is better in every way, and yet has not met sales expectations (Although I'm not sure what Nissan's sales projections are for this car).

I can understand in regards to the GT-R and 911 though.. they are niche cars and low volume. Isn't Nissan only making a few hundred GT-Rs for 2010?

 

While we are beginning to emerge, the country is still in a recession, when things like sports cars are the absolute last purchase on people's minds. When things get better I would expect this segment to remain steady and perhaps grow a bit.

 

I just want to see how Honda CR-Z would fare.