- Do sports cars have a future as transaction prices skyrocket and as automakers tout their wholesale move from internal combustion to electrified powertrains?
- Based on our reading of the sales data, there will be sports cars in our future. Aggregate sales are up a sliver, 0.15%, to 62,234 vehicles.
- Strong sales of the Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911, and Toyota GR86 were somewhat offset by ramp-down sales of the Lexus LC and Audi R8 and TT.
It would be easy to forget the number of sports cars Americans purchased in the first three quarters of 2022 because they make up a tiny portion of the industry. They would be easy to forget as parts and supply shortages force consumers and automakers to concentrate on more practical, high-volume trucks, crossovers, and SUVs.
Do sports cars have any future as sticker and transaction prices skyrocket and as automakers tout their wholesale move from internal combustion to electric and electrified hybrid power? Let’s look at sales so far this year—the first nine months—also known as “calendar year to date,” or CYTD, and compare the numbers with the first nine months of 2021. Those nine months include spring and summer, prime sales months for sports cars.
Of course, “sports car” has been a contentious term, subject to competing definitions since American soldiers started bringing right-hand-drive MG TCs home after World War II.
We’re focusing on two-door models with bodyshells unique from other models from the brand. So, we are counting Subaru BRZs but not Subaru WRX/STIs that share many parts with Imprezas. Likewise, BMW Z4s, not BMW M4s. You get the idea (plus, it’s easier to count this way).
We also leave out Ford Mustangs, Dodge Challengers, and Chevrolet Camaros, relatively large-volume cars that all will be replaced with performance EVs by the end of the decade.
We’ve also left out these hypercars, generally selling in two-digit numbers: Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins (none of which regularly publish US sales results), Maseratis, and the Ford GT.
As with our estimate of the total number of stick-shifts sold in the first half of the year, we figured adding everything up would give us a glimpse of the future. The lifecycle of each model does affect sales for a specific period, as you’ll see below.
Based on our reading of the sales data, there will be sports cars in our future. Aggregate sales are up a sliver, 0.15%, to 62,234 vehicles. That comes to about 5.5% of US auto sales, based on a 15-million vehicle unit year. Strong sales of the Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911, and Toyota GR86 were somewhat offset by ramp-down sales of the Lexus LC and Audi R8 and TT.
Here’s the breakdown:
Acura
In the NSX’s final production year, 211 have been sold, up 78.8% over the first nine months of 2021.
Audi
For the R8’s penultimate year, 208 have been sold, down 58.1%. In its final year in the US, TT sales were down 46.8% to 439.
BMW
The Z4 roadster was down 30.2% to 1203 for the first three quarters of this year, while BMW sold five of its discontinued i8s YTD this year, from 12 last year.
Chevrolet Corvette
The midengine C8 was backlogged for 2020. So far in 2022, Chevy has delivered 25,380, which topped the Bolt/Bolt EUV by 3368 units for the period. Last year’s C8 sales totaled 24,794 for the period, nine units short of the electric Chevy. Both calendar ’21 and ’22 sales are way up from the C8’s first model year, 2020, when just 12,635 Corvettes were delivered, according to sales numbers gathered by gmauthority.com.
Corvette demand remains strong, a Chevrolet spokesman says, and while the just-launched Z06 has “only heightened” interest in the C8, he did not answer whether supply has caught up.
“Along with our full-size SUVs and pickups, we did prioritize Corvette production to limit any potential issues related to semiconductors and have been pretty successful thus far. The issues we’ve been facing are not related to semiconductor availability,” the spokesman said.
Dodge/Fiat/Alfa Romeo
These brands have three discontinued sports cars, all counted in the totals above. One Dodge Viper was sold YTD ’22, down from two last year. One Alfa Romeo 4c was sold, down from 76, and 24 Fiat Spiders were sold YTD ’22, down from 932.
Jaguar
The F-Type goes out of production after 2024. Jaguar sold 961 F-Types through September, down 37.9% from 1548 deliveries for the same period in 2021, according to Wards Intelligence data.
Lexus
Toyota’s luxury brand sold 993 LCs in the first nine months, down 58.3% from the same period in 2021, and sold one LFA last year.
Mazda
MX-5 Miata sales were more than halved to 4571 so far this year from 9608 same period last year. While it’s no surprise that sales of the ND Miata are leveling off after five model years, it looks like Mazda is concentrating on its growing crossover lineup.
Mercedes-Benz
Sold 2420 AMG-GTs this year so far, off 13.8% but still better than the SL, which was up 79.7% to 823 units. Mercedes sold 228 of its discontinued SLCs in the first nine months last year—counted in the total above—and zero this year.
Nissan Z
Just 86 sold year-to-date ’22, all the redesigned 2023 model, compared with 56 of the outgoing 370Z sold in the first three quarters of 2021.
Nissan GTR
The inverse of the Z for this well-aged supercar, with 56 sold YTD ’22, compared with 167 for YTD ’21.
Porsche
Sales of the 911 rose 10.1% to 7411 units CYTD ’22, while 718 (Boxster and Cayman) sales fell 23.3% to 2426. Combining sales of the 911 and 718, Porsche sold 9837 of its sports cars CYTD ’22 vs. 9894 for the first nine months of 2021.
Subaru
Like the GR86, the BRZ was up substantially to 2420 this year so far, from just 722 for three quarters of ’21.
Toyota
Sold 9691 of the updated GR86 this year so far, compared with 1044 of the outgoing model last year, while Supra sales dropped 33.8% to 3855 so far this year.
Demand remains strong for sports cars, according to dealers, as Toyota regularly refreshes its product and shores up its GR lineup with such models as its GR Corolla, says Joe Moses, general manager of vehicle marketing and communications for Toyota Motor North America.
“The accessibility of GR86, which starts at $27,900, makes it a viable option even in times of an economic downturn,” Moses says. “In addition, the GR family offers the option of manual transmissions across its three models,” adding to demand from customers with an enthusiast mindset.
Are you hopeful about the future of sports cars in the electric age? Please comment below.
As a kid growing up in Metro Milwaukee, Todd Lassa impressed childhood friends with his ability to identify cars on the street by year, make, and model. But when American automakers put an end to yearly sheetmetal changes, Lassa turned his attention toward underpowered British sports cars with built-in oil leaks. After a varied early journalism career, he joined Autoweek, then worked in Motor Trend’s and Automobile’s Detroit bureaus, before escaping for Mountain Maryland with his wife, three dogs, three sports cars (only one of them British), and three bicycles. Lassa is founding editor of thehustings.news, which has nothing to do with cars.
