- The Ford Mustang was America’s best-selling sports car last year, with sales up 3.0 percent to 45,333 units
- Sales of the Nissan Z, Toyota Supra and Mazda MX-5 Miata increased last year.
- Sales of the Subaru WRX fell by 41.1 percent, while sales of the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R fell by more than 20 percent.
Sports cars have never been big sellers. They serve a niche segment of the market that is willing to live with certain compromises to enjoy a specific driving experience. Yet fewer customers are making this choice as sports car sales largely fell last year, even as some models saw increases.
The Ford Mustang remains America’s best-selling sports car by a wide margin. Sales of the iconic pony car increased by 3.0 percent last year. The same cannot be said for the Chevrolet Corvette, whose sales fell 26.4 percent over the past twelve months.
Dodge, which discontinued the two-door Challenger in December 2023 and replaced it with coupe and sedan versions of the new Charger, sold a fraction of the cars it sold in 2024. Sales of the Charger/Challenger dropped by more than 80 percent last year.
The Nissan Z outsold the Toyota Supra by almost two to one, even though Supra sales rose 12.9 percent. Z sales also rose, rising 73.4 percent to 5,487 units. The Mazda MX-5 Miata was the only other sports car to see sales increase 7.7 percent in 2025.
Tariffs and higher prices did not help sales
Photo by: Nissan
Volkswagen’s popular hot hatch is no longer as affordable as it used to be, and its sales figures reflect that. Sales of the Golf GTI and Golf R fell by 24.4 percent and 20.9 percent respectively last year. The tariffs pushed the price of the Golf R past the $50,000 mark, while the Golf GTI now costs almost $36,000, about $6,000 more than 2020.
Sales of the Subaru WRX also fell 41.1 percent last year. The automaker explained in July that it was prioritizing production of the Forester and Forester Hybrid models over the sedan at its production facility in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture, and it doesn’t appear that guidance has changed.
Last year Subaru also saw the starting price of the 2025 BRZ increase by almost $1,000 for no real reason, although the coupe now comes with a Sport mode for manual models. Sales of the BRZ fell 13.8 percent last year to just 2,881, about a third of the GR86.
While Toyota saw sales of the Supra rise through 2025, the mechanically similar BMW Z4 remained virtually flat, with sales down less than 1.0 percent. Toyota sold about 500 more Supras than BMW sold Z4s.
| Make and model | Sale 2025 | Sale 2024 | YoY % change |
| BMW Z4 | 2,113 | 2,129 | -0.8% |
| Chevrolet Corvette | 24,533 | 33,330 | -26.4% |
| Avoid the charger | 9,562 | 61,810 | -84.5% |
| Ford Mustang | 45,333 | 44,033 | 3.0% |
| Mazda MX-5 Miata | 8,727 | 8,103 | 7.7% |
| Nissan Z | 5,487 | 3,164 | 73.4% |
| Subaru BRZ | 2,881 | 3,345 | -13.8% |
| Subaru WRX | 10,930 | 18,587 | -41.1% |
| Toyota GR86 | 9,940 | 11,426 | -13.0% |
| Toyota Supra | 2,953 | 2,165 | 12.9% |
| Volkswagen Golf GTI | 7,235 | 11,072 | -24.4% |
| Volkswagen Golf R | 3,319 | 4,196 | -20.9% |
Taking Motor1s: Sports car sales were a mixed bag in 2025, with the Ford Mustang finally reversing its sales decline, but other models weren’t so lucky. Affordable sports cars like the BRZ and GR86 saw double-digit declines, while Volkswagen’s hot hatches saw an even bigger drop as new car prices continued to rise, putting fun cars out of reach for many.
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