Mustang Celebrates 61 Years as Top-Selling Global Sports Car

[Jarstang]

Mustang Roars to Another Year of Global and U.S. Sales Dominance

On April 17, 1964, Ford introduced the Mustang® and established a legacy that has endured for decades. As it begins its 61st year, the Mustang continues to excel on the track. In 2025, it captured a win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and multiple NASCAR and Australian Supercar victories. It is winning on the sales chart, too.

Mustang once again tops the global sports car sales charts1 and continues its reign as America’s best-selling sports car2, according to S&P Global Mobility.

Ford has sold nearly 1 million Mustangs globally over the past decade. The sports car is available to customers in 85 markets. In the U.S., as America’s best-selling sports car, Mustang now represents nearly half the non-luxury sports car segment.

The latest Mustang, the seventh generation, is expanding its reach on both the road and the track. There is a Mustang for every fan, from the economical Mustang EcoBoost® to the Mustang GT and Dark Horse™ and the 815-horsepower Mustang GTD supercar.

Mustang’s success on the road is mirrored on the track. Beyond IMSA endurance racing, NASCAR and Australian Supercars, Ford continues to race with Mustang in series around the world, as well as the one-make Mustang Challenge series.

The spirit of competition has been part of Ford culture since the beginning, and it is clear racing helps make Ford vehicles, including Mustang, better. Whether it is through technology like the Drift Brake or Mustang GTD’s active aerodynamics and carbon-fiber construction or smaller details that improve performance, efficiency or driver confidence, Mustang’s motorsports participation and racing-inspired engineering has been part of its character for 61 years.

Brandon Turkus is a member of the Ford Communications team.

1 S&P Global Mobility global vehicle registrations are compiled from government and other sources and capture 95 per cent of global new vehicle volumes in more than 80 countries as reported in March 2025. Sports car as defined by S&P Global Mobility, includes two-door coupe and convertible models.

2 Based on S&P Global Mobility total U.S. new vehicle registrations across all sports car segments CYE 2024.

Sponsored

 

[broncoboy22]

Ugh, hopefully this isn’t all they’re going to release today lol

 

[GT7 Mayhem]

Ugh, hopefully this isn’t all they’re going to release today lol

Right? I want to know what the official GTD Nurburgring lap time was from this past weekend. Seems like today would be a perfect day to release that information.

 

[broncoboy22]

Right? I want to know what the official GTD Nurburgring lap time was from this past weekend. Seems like today would be a perfect day to release that information.

Yeah!!

 

[DeluxeStang]

Ugh, hopefully this isn’t all they’re going to release today lol

I believe last year's celebration was held a little later in the day, so there's hope lol.

 

[LouG]

I was 12 when the first Mustang was released, little did I know that 60 years later I'd own one.
And in a country where US V8's aren't very common.
Life is full of surprises

 

[DFB5.0]

As an Australian, I am so grateful Ford made the Mustang a global car in 2015. Apart from a few batches of right-hand-drive converted Mustang's in the 60's and early 2000's, we never had access to the Mustang. That all changed in 2015 with the S550, and continues today with the S650. In a way, it replaced "our" Falcon, both on the road and on the racetrack.

I've been lucky enough to drive a first gen Mustang, a left-hand-drive GT convertible in Springtime Yellow. The first Mustang I drove, and the first time driving a convertible. Actually, its the oldest car I have ever driven. Yes, the brakes were nonexistent, the steering vague and handled like a boat............................but what an experience!

The second Mustang I drove was when the S550 arrived. I had just placed an order for a GT Hardtop and was thrown the keys to their demonstrator. At the time, Mustang was in such high demand that orders were a 12+ month turn around, in particular the V8 GT's. As such, the only demo's available were EcoBoost's (we never got the V6), in this case a Guard Green Automatic. I was hooked with the LOW driving position looking down that lovely long hood.

A year later, my Race Red GT arrived! This would be third Mustang I had driven, and the first time I had driven the classic V8 + manual combination..............................I never understood why people would gush over driving a V8 with a manual transmission.....................until this car.

I then went on to drive multiple S550's, Ford at one point had them on their service loan car program, which was a nice touch. I ended up with two Race Red's parked in my driveway on multiple occasions. The Orange Fury was the dealers demo car when the 2018+ model launched. This one was a 10-speed with Recaro's and the factory stripe pack.

Then late last year, my two year wait for a S650 came to end. It broke my heart to say goodby to the S550, it was simply perfect.

The S550 returned to the very same showroom in which I took delivery of it all those years ago, having both side by side was so special.

Having both side by side, its amazing how dated the S550 suddenly looked.........................................but, I still think the early S550 was the better looking design, surely a highpoint in Mustang design only bettered by the original.

So yes, Happy Birthday Mustang.

 

[DevilDog]

I was 12 when the first Mustang was released, little did I know that 60 years later I'd own one.
And in a country where US V8's aren't very common.
Life is full of surprises

I was 15 when the Mustang was released and remember a couple at our church driving a new one shortly after that.

 

[LouG]

I think us Boomers have experienced the golden years of cars and driving.
It's been a lot of fun and still is, but I think the analogue cars were the purest form of driving.

 

[IFFV68]

I think us Boomers have experienced the golden years of cars and driving.
It's been a lot of fun and still is, but I think the analogue cars were the purest form of driving.

With out a doubt.
We had the pleasure of experiencing the True Muscle Cars of the 1960’s.
Big Block Ford’s, Chevys, Dodge, Plymouth & the Pontiac GTO etc.
When 335 horses was plenty to the 426 Hemi’s & the 427’s.. with the 425 horse only to learn the Big 3 weren’t telling the truth about the real horsepower numbers.
They were lying to fool the insurance companies.
The real horse power were more like 450 horse, 475 etc.
Now the Insurance Company are fooling us!

 

[MustangMitch69]

The Ford Mustang reached 1 million cars sold by March 2, 1966, less than two years after its launch on April 17, 1964. No definitive records confirm any car other has ever done that.

My S650 was my first mustang and my first V8 and I absolutely love it. With the mustang's rich history, it's like being part of a club. While many other people had mustangs before me, we still made a similar major purchasing decision, which is a commonality that we don't share with many other people.

While I have extensively researched and respect the "muscle car era", quite frankly I'm glad I was born later and am able to enjoy a mustang with modern engineering advancements and the latest technology. While I love how the 64-65 mustang looks, I hae no desire to drive something that drives like a boat (which to be fair all cars did back then).

I'm thrilled that Ford has continued to produce the mustang. While naysayers might bring up declining sales, it's not due to anything Ford has done wrong with the mustang, it's due to an economy thst experienced unprecedented inflation and now everything costs significantly more than it used to, relative to average wages. Since 2019, homes, cars, everything have seen price increases of 40%+ whereas wages have only increased a fraction of that.

Regarding competitors, Ford has sold more mustangs than camaros almost every single year. Challenger sales don't even compare to either, and Chargers are just boxy family cars and cop cars now that I wouldn't even consider pony cars or muscle cars anymore. And it's a disgrace that they're going electric and settling for V6's for future models, at least as far as we know.

I hope and pray Ford continues to produce the mustang and doesn't try to change it to do whatever is culturally trendy at the time. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If they decide to make more microwaves (EV's) or put 4 doors on it, I hope they call it something different than the mustang, and don't tarnish the mustang's rich history, tradition, and consistent success by trying to make it something it's not. I'm proud of what I drive, and don't want that to change.

 

[IFFV68]

The Ford Mustang reached 1 million cars sold by March 2, 1966, less than two years after its launch on April 17, 1964. No definitive records confirm any car other has ever done that.

My S650 was my first mustang and my first V8 and I absolutely love it. With the mustang's rich history, it's like being part of a club. While many other people had mustangs before me, we still made a similar major purchasing decision, which is a commonality that we don't share with many other people.

While I have extensively researched and respect the "muscle car era", quite frankly I'm glad I was born later and am able to enjoy a mustang with modern engineering advancements and the latest technology. While I love how the 64-65 mustang looks, I hae no desire to drive something that drives like a boat (which to be fair all cars did back then).

I'm thrilled that Ford has continued to produce the mustang. While naysayers might bring up declining sales, it's not due to anything Ford has done wrong with the mustang, it's due to an economy thst experienced unprecedented inflation and now everything costs significantly more than it used to, relative to average wages. Since 2019, homes, cars, everything have seen price increases of 40%+ whereas wages have only increased a fraction of that.

Regarding competitors, Ford has sold more mustangs than camaros almost every single year. Challenger sales don't even compare to either, and Chargers are just boxy family cars and cop cars now that I wouldn't even consider pony cars or muscle cars anymore. And it's a disgrace that they're going electric and settling for V6's for future models, at least as far as we know.

I hope and pray Ford continues to produce the mustang and doesn't try to change it to do whatever is culturally trendy at the time. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If they decide to make more microwaves (EV's) or put 4 doors on it, I hope they call it something different than the mustang, and don't tarnish the mustang's rich history, tradition, and consistent success by trying to make it something it's not. I'm proud of what I drive, and don't want that to change.

Excellent Review.
Everything you mention is Correct.
I also hope Ford doesn’t make a 4-Door version & call it a Mustang..

 

[DFB5.0]

Excellent Review.
Everything you mention is Correct.
I also hope Ford doesn’t make a 4-Door version & call it a Mustang..

Hmmm, they made one for 56 years in Australia, wasn't called Mustang though.......................................

That's a supercharger by the way........................................

 

[MustangMitch69]

Hmmm, they made one for 56 years in Australia, wasn't called Mustang though.......................................

I'm all for Ford doing whatever they want to increase sales, revenue, profit, "brand", etc. Just don't taint the Mustang and its name and its heritage. The mustang is a 2-door, gasoline-powered, LAST SURVIVING pony car with a V8 option, nothing else.

When Ford made the Mustang in '64, they used the Ford Falcon as a base, but they didn't keep calling it the Falcon.

If Ford wants to do something different like a 4-door or EV, and use the Mustang as a base, fine. Raise it, shorten it, and make it a conservative, family-oriented car that prioritizes function over flair. And it probably makes sense from a manufacturing perspective to use a lot of the same parts and processes, but it would need another name. Hell, call it the Falcon again for all I care. And no pony logos!

 

[robvas]

Regarding competitors, Ford has sold more mustangs than camaros almost every single year. Challenger sales don't even compare to either, and Chargers are just boxy family cars and cop cars now that I wouldn't even consider pony cars or muscle cars anymore.

You're forgetting that the Challenger outsold the Mustang in 2021 and 2022

Sponsored