George S. May Business Blog

Muscles aren’t cool anymore — Ask the auto industry

The days of muscle cars ruling the road are officially over.

Over? You ask. How so?

Well, when sales of the top three muscle cars in the U.S. (Camaro, Mustang, Challenger) are out done by a single Japanese, ultra-green car (Toyota Prius) it becomes evident that an era has ended.

“While muscle-car enthusiasts will comb over the meaning behind the Chevy Camaro beating the Ford Mustang in sales for the third straight month, we couldn’t help but notice that the Toyota Prius beat the August sales for the three staple muscle cars – including the Dodge Challenger – combined.

With an assist from Cash for Clunkers, the 50-mpg Prius moved 18,886 units in August compared to 8,680 Camaros, 6,289 Mustangs and 1,132 Challengers (a total of 16,101 units).

The Prius also outsold the reliably robust Dodge Ram (17,514 units in August).”

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