Chevrolet Camaro Outsells Ford Mustang by Almost 20,000 Units at Year One, But Loses in May '10

Yesterday we learned that the refreshed and more powerful 2011 Ford Mustang sold 10,225 units in May 2010 beating GM's Chevrolet Camaro by almost 1,300 units (8,931 sales monthly total).

The General's reaction? Early this morning, the Detroit automaker came out with a press release stating that from May 2009 (the 2010 Camaro's first full month of sales) to May 2010, Chevy's pony car posted 99,872 total sales, outselling the Ford Mustang by nearly 20,000 vehicles (80,340 units total).

The company added that the Camaro has led the pony car sales race for 11 of the last 12 months.

Of course, now that the Mustang has been upgraded with a pair of more powerful and frugal V6 and V8 engines, the Camaro won't have it so easy as May sales proved. That is until GM introduces a revised version of the Camaro and the cycle begins again...

For the record, Detroit's third pony car, the un-updated Dodge Challenger, sold a total of 3,828 copies in May 2010 recording a 42 percent increase over the same month last year (2,695 units), setting a monthly sales record for the second month in a row.

It's Official: Ford Dumps Mercury Brand

Like GM, Ford Motor Company is continuing to shrink its brand portfolio. Following the recent sale of Volvo Cars to China's Geely, with which it completed the dismantling of the premium group that once included Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, the Deaborn automaker made it official today that it will terminate the Mercury division in the fourth quarter of this year.

Given Mercury's declining sales over the years (the brand holds a pitiful 0.8 percent market share in the U.S. - overall Ford has 16%) and the fact that its entire lineup comprises of re-grilled / re-badged Ford models, the announcement was no surprise.

Some had suggested in the past that Mercury should do what GM is doing with Buick - enhance its U.S. lineup with Ford's European models, but apparently that role is partially going to Ford with the new Euro-style Fiesta and Focus cars.

Ford admitted that the majority of current Mercury sales are to fleet buyers and customers purchasing through employee, retiree and friends and family discounts, which the company anticipates can be satisfied by Ford brand vehicles.

The company added that it will work closely with Mercury dealers and customers during the transition, providing providing existing owners with access to parts and service support at Ford and Lincoln dealers and by honoring current warranties.

"We are 100 percent committed to supporting Mercury owners through Ford and Lincoln dealerships and working hard to keep them as valued customers in the future," said Ford President, Mark Fields.

"At the same time, we will work closely with our dealers to phase out Mercury franchises and continue to build a healthy, growing Lincoln with strong new products and a profitable dealer network that delivers a world-class customer experience."

Mercury was introduced into the market 71 years ago by Edsel Ford as a Buick-like, mid-priced alternative to mainstream Ford and luxury Lincoln models.

The brand's sales peaked at 579,498 units in 1978, but have since plunged to just 92,299 vehicles in 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, Mercury's sales accounted for a mere 1.9% of FoMoCo's global sales.