Ford is cranking up the horsepower on the 2011 Mustang as it tries to win back muscle car sales from its archrival, the Chevrolet Camaro.
Ford Motor Co. will introduce a 305-horsepower V-6 engine for the Mustang this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That's one horse more than the Camaro's V-6, which clocks in at 304 horsepower. And it's far more powerful than the 210-horsepower V-6 on the 2010 Mustang.
Ford also promises better fuel economy from the 3.7-liter, Duratec all-aluminum engine, with 30 miles per gallon on the highway to the Camaro's 29.
It's a bid to win back attention from the Camaro, which went on sale in the spring and has sold at a blistering pace despite the struggling economy.
Camaro sales may even outpace Mustang this year, something that hasn't happened since 1985.
Through October, Ford sold 56,469 Mustangs, topping Camaro by 9,136 vehicles. But the momentum is on the Camaro's side. In October, General Motors Co. sold 8,082 Camaros, while Ford sold 4,789 Mustangs. Sales of the Mustang - which was reintroduced in 2005 - fell 32 percent during the first nine months of the year.
Mustang and Camaro have been going at it since 1966, when the Camaro was first introduced two years after the Mustang.
Nipping at their heels was the Dodge Challenger, which was first introduced in 1970. A retro Challenger released last year has also been a juggernaut, with sales up 85 percent to 21,276 through October. The Challenger's V-6 gets 250 horsepower and 25 miles to the gallon. All three cars start in the $22,000 range.
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