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By: Bloomberg Published on Tue Sep 08 2015
NEW YORK — Women are falling in love with the Ford Mustang which, according to sales results for the first half of 2015, is the best-selling sports car in the world — and the best-selling sports car among women in the United States.
Global sales of the Mustang hit 76,124 vehicles for the first half of 2015, up 56 per cent year to date, according to Polk/IHS global sales data. Total sales among women in particular are up 40 per cent over last year, giving Mustang 36 per cent of the entire female sports car market.
“Women like it because it is a practical choice,” said Erich Merkle, Ford’s U.S. sales analyst. “It looks great, and it provides good performance and fuel efficiency.”
Merkle said ladies tend to choose the (4-cylinder, more efficient) EcoBoost engine option over the V6 and V8 versions more often than men. They also tend to choose the drop-top option slightly more often than their male counterparts, he said: 15 per cent of female Mustang buyers choose the convertible versus 13 per cent for men.
Women buyers stand to help boost sales in international markets. This is the first year Mustang is available to customers in more than 100 global markets including the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and Japan. It’s the first time many of them will have access to a right-hand-drive model.
In the U.K., Ford has logged more than 2,000 orders for the Mustang since January and scheduled extra production to meet the greater-than-expected demand. Several European sales lists sold out in minutes, according to Ford. Australia and New Zealand have each exceeded demand as well, with 3,000 orders placed in Australia and 400 in New Zealand.
In China, which saw sales start last winter, the Mustang is already nearly the top-selling sports car there, with popular hubs in Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai.
Merkle chalks up the enthusiasm to unfettered love for traditional automotive muscle.
“Passion for the car is universal,” he said. “It’s an American Icon.”
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