Ford claims that its Mustang was the best-selling sports car in the world in 2016, thanks largely to “growth in international markets”.
The US automaker says IHS Markit new vehicle registration data in the sports car segment shows that the Mustang was the most popular across the world last year. It is currently available in 140 countries across all continents other than Antarctica.
The data shows that more than 150 000 Mustang units were sold in 2016, representing an overall global sales increase of 6% over 2015. This, says Ford, was fuelled by “international market growth up 101%, with almost 45 000 Mustang vehicles sold outside the United States”.
The Blue Oval claims “big sales gains” in both Germany and China, also pointing out that the pony car’s has been introduced to smaller nations, such as New Caledonia, Gibraltar and Bonaire.
“The legacy of Mustang continues to grow, and in places it never reached before,” said Mark Schaller, Ford Mustang marketing manager. “We continue to make it available in new markets, and drivers in those markets continue to respond with resounding approval.”
According to Lightstone Auto, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa sold some 860 units of the Mustang in South Africa in 2016.
Ford says more than 395 000 sixth-generation Mustangs have been produced at Flat Rock Assembly Plant since 2015 and of those, 98 000 have been shipped to customers outside of the US. From 2015 to 2016, Ford doubled the percentage of exports to 17.5%, with the automaker predicting that this figure will grow to 30% for the 2017 Mustang.
In 2017, availability of the 2018 model year Mustang will expand to six new countries, including Brazil, the Palau Islands and the Ivory Coast, with three additional markets to be announced later.
