OTTAWA — The decision by General Motors to manufacture the Camaro in Oshawa, Ontario, was widely hailed in Canada as a coup for the country’s auto industry. But it seems that patriotism matters for little in Canadian showrooms.
According to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Canadians have bought 3,974 Camaros this year as of the end of November, compared with 4,935 Mustangs, which are assembled in Michigan.
The situation is the reverse of the United States, where 75,685 Camaros were sold during the same period compared with 68,264 Mustangs, according to the manufacturers. (Sales of both vehicles account for a much smaller portion of the overall Canadian market, which is roughly one-tenth the size of the United States.)
It’s not entirely clear why Canadians are more fond of the imported muscle car.
Kerri Stoakley, a spokeswoman for the Ford Motor Company of Canada, argued that Canadians believed that Mustangs were better.
“The Ford Mustang is an icon, a vehicle that many Canadians consider their dream car,” she wrote in an e-mail.
David Caldwell, a General Motors spokesman in Detroit, suggested that two factors might be at play: a lack of price incentives on the Camaro and the unavailability of a convertible model.
While Canada might be a wintry land, about half of the Mustangs sold were convertibles. By comparison, they account for only 15 to 20 percent of American sales.
Because high-power, rear-wheel-drive sports cars are less than ideal winter vehicles, many of them spend the long Canadian winter in indoor storage and are used only during seasons when a convertible top is an asset.
The convertible Camaro now on its way may alter the Canadian sales war.
While G.M. has heavily promoted the Camaro’s sales lead in the United States, Mr. Caldwell seemed to take the car’s second place in the Canadian market in stride.
“Maybe this isn’t so unusual,” he wrote. “Mustang is no longer No. 1 in its country of origin either.”
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