By Steven Symes 
As the last American muscle car, some would assume Ford Mustang sales would be doing fine, great even. However, the sad reality is the iconic pony car is struggling as shoppers seem to be passing it over for other options entirely.
Ford has a dramatic plan that might help turn Mustang sales around.
According to sales figures released by Ford for January 2025, the company sold a mere 2,399 Mustangs for the month versus 3,771 in January 2024. That’s a 36.4 percent drop, which is huge.
February 2025 wasn’t much better with 2,792 Mustangs sold versus 4,115 in February 2024 for a 32.2 percent decrease. If the trend continues, it’s going to be a rough year for the Mustang.
Something a lot of other car sites are missing is this isn’t a recent problem. Mustang sales are down versus last year, but 2024 was down versus 2023. In its Q4 2024 sale report, Ford said Mustang sales were down 43.4 percent for the quarter and 9.5 percent for the entire year.
In other words, this problem has been evolving since at least late last year, if not sooner.
When a new generation of a vehicle comes out, people often will rush to buy it because of the newness of the thing. Enthusiasts might be eager to be the “first one” of their circles to experience all the groundbreaking features. That likely fueled solid S650 sales at first, but it seems to no longer be keeping things going.
One factor a lot of people cite for not buying a new Mustang, let alone any new car these days, is the astronomically high prices. Let’s skip over the EcoBoost, because we’re talking about real Mustangs here, and go straight to the GT.
Base MSRP for a 2025 Ford Mustang GT Fastback is a whopping $45,460. For anyone arguing that isn’t a lot, the base MSRP for a 2015 Mustang GT was just $32,925.
To add insult to injury, interest rates are high now, so you’re paying more for the principal on the loan and your payments are huge because of interest rates. It’s just too much. In fact, we’re willing to bet there are many who would like a new Mustang GT but couldn’t even begin to qualify for a loan in the neighborhood of $50,000.
As has been pointed out by other car sites, many of them with a particular glee, the “Mustang” Mach-E is selling well compared to last year. But that vehicle appeals to a completely different group who think nothing of dropping over $50,000 for a vehicle to take Timmy to soccer practice. It’s an apples to oranges comparison.
Overall, sales for Ford cars are down 34.2 percent for this year through the end of February. But SUVs aren’t doing great with a 20.8 percent drop. Expedition sales are down 34.9 percent and Maverick sales have deflated 26.1 percent.
The Mustang is more of a canary in the coal mine. Car prices are too high and so are interest rates. Something has to give.
Image via Ford