Topic: US pony-car sales

[wing]

Poor Challenger -- is Chrysler building cars anymore?

[Mitlov]

For June 2009, Hyundai sold 1,838 Genesises (Genesi?) in the States.  That's coupe AND sedan.

With help from Ovr's post...

....this is the early going for the Camaro Genesis and all the Camaro Genesis fanboys are buying...

Yeah, for all the internet hype about this being the ultimate pony-car killer, sales are downright dismal.

[ovr50]

Let's be realistic - most "pony car" buyers are over 40, and for them, they won't even consider the Hyundai coupe in the mix. Just won't happen.

[initial_D]

Let's be realistic - most "pony car" buyers are over 40, and for them, they won't even consider the Hyundai coupe in the mix. Just won't happen.

 

Here in Red Neck country, only the 'mature aged' group buys the muscle cars. Genesis Coupe is for the younger crowd.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Reminds me of the Fiero being launched as one thing (efficient commuter car) and the 'hype' from the media suggesting it was something else (weak mid-engined sportscar).  By the time Pontiac had changed it into that something else to meet the perception, it was 'too late'.

Was it Hyundai or the populace labeled the Genesis a muscle car killer?  Is it supposed to me more of a GT?

I remember the thread about cross shopping - personally I would consider the pony cars in a different category, but that's just me. 

Weren't pony cars different from muscle cars?

[Mitlov]

Let's be realistic - most "pony car" buyers are over 40, and for them, they won't even consider the Hyundai coupe in the mix. Just won't happen.

 

Here in Red Neck country, only the 'mature aged' group buys the muscle cars. Genesis Coupe is for the younger crowd.

Not true here in middle America.  The family selling the house we bought?  Their high school boy had a 1960s Mustang.  While only 40-somethings and above typically buy new here (this isn't the part of the country where university parking lots are filled with M3s), all ages tend to like Mustangs.

For what it's worth, while I've seen a couple Genesis sedans around, and I've seen about six Challengers and a new Camaro, I haven't yet seen a Genesis coupe.

[ovr50]

Weren't pony cars different from muscle cars?

The line between them is a bit fuzzy. IMO, pony cars are generally those vehicles that were the direct competitors to the Mustang. The Mustang was the original pony car and preceded the Camaro, Firebird, Challenger and Cuda which were produced to compete with the 'Stang.

The original muscle car was arguably the Pontiac GTO that DeLoren did when he at Pontiac. Most muscle cars are intermediate size cars (in the 60s) that had few luxury/comfort items (ie, a stripper) but had a monsterous motors, allways a V8. The Ford Torino, Chevy Chevelle SS, Dodge Charger, etc were made to compete with the GTO.

No pony nor muscle car ever had any other engine than a V8. There were not import cars.

Some of the vehicles called "muscle cars" today are not in the classical definition of the term.