Mustangs need help moving off the showroom floor?

Is the Mustang in trouble? This gem has arrived in my mail yesterday and made me stop and wonder a bit what is going on with the Mustang?

Well...October sales were up 2% but are overall down 32% from a year ago according to Fords own October Sales Analysis over at blue oval. Ford cars overall are only down 15% for the total line. So what's going on with the Mustang I had to ask myself. After all, for 2010 it is a nearly new(*) car for 2010 model year with a stunning, in my not so humble opinion, re-working of the classic Mustang lines that make it identifiable without looking for a name on a decklid.

A lot is going on. About the same time the 2010 Camaro went on sale with a whopping 16,000 pre-ordered. The Dodge Challenger also went on sale as 2010 before both of them and is selling well. The number sold are more than the 27,000 units Ford is off year to date for the sales so something else is going on.

That something else I suspect is answered by the asterick (*) in the nearly new portion of the raving about the great new car that the Mustang is. It got minor engine improvements for both of the carry over engines, the 4.0L V6 and the 4.6L V8 in the GT. Those improvements are what was standard in the Bullitt that I loved so dearly from a drive a year ago. As good as they are they aren't enough in the tough "pony car" segment that has gotten so competitive in the space of a few months.

The Camaro is priced comparably to the Mustang V6. The competition starts right there with much better standard equipment. The Camaro 3.5L V6 has the same horsepower as the GT's V8 and is cutting the price by some $5,ooo which is no chump change. Add in the standard 6speed vs 5 speed for the 'stang and you can see where the carry over of power plants may not have been the wisest choice for the guys over at Ford knowing what was coming from Chevy and Dodge.

What Ford needs to do, and quick is make some power train changes to the Mustang. The base V6 needs to be either the new 3.oL or 3.5L from the Fusion/Milan/MKZ line up. They need to bring the new 5.0L V8 on stream faster to make the GT more competitive power wise with the Camaro/Challenger. They also need to add a cog to BOTH the automatic and manual gear boxes and make them 6 speeds as well for better power distribution and economy. It is this old school power train line up that is keeping them from reaping the sales I expected to see out of the Mustang in its gorgeous new body and terrific toy list like Sync.

In the end I think its kind of funny I get a post card offering 2K on top of what my Focus is worth as a trade in. Funny in that it is pushing 100K and already worth less than the 2K they are offering in the reinvented clunker program. Is it enough to get me into a Mustang. Nope, even though I drool about owning one someday, right now the Focus is the perfect car for new drivers in that they can't get into trouble with it so I will stick with it a few more years.