Convertible car statistics span several different populations: historical model milestones, current body-style choices, sports-coupe registrations, and vehicles involved in fatal crashes. The figures below keep those definitions, dates, and geographies separate so that a sales count is not mistaken for a market share or a safety rate.
Key Convertible Car Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 1966, Ford’s milestone counted 142,000 first-generation Mustang convertibles worldwide through March.
- In 1966, convertibles represented 14.2% of Ford’s three listed first-generation Mustang body styles.
- In Ford’s 1966 buyer data, the average Mustang buyer was 31 years old.
- In Ford’s 1966 buyer survey, women represented 42% of Mustang buyers.
- In 2017, Ford reported 125,809 Mustang coupes and convertibles sold across 146 countries.
- In 2017, Ford reported 13,100 Mustangs sold in Europe.
- In Germany’s Mustang customer mix described in 2018, 45% chose the convertible body style.
- In Germany’s same customer mix, 55% chose the fastback body style.
- From 2015 through 2019, Ford reported 633,000 sixth-generation Mustangs sold in 146 countries.
- In 2019, Ford reported 102,090 Mustang vehicles sold worldwide.
- For 2018, Ford’s IHS Markit-based estimate put Mustang at 15.4% of the global sports-coupe segment.
- In 2019, Ford reported Mustang sales growth of 33% in Germany.
- In 2023, NHTSA recorded 430 convertibles involved in fatal crashes in the United States.
- In NHTSA’s 2023 table, convertibles were 0.7% of 58,319 vehicles involved in US fatal crashes.
- In 2023, NHTSA recorded 2,307 passenger-car rollovers in fatal crashes, or 12.3% of passenger cars in its rollover table.
- In NHTSA’s 2023 fire table, 2,108 vehicles with fire represented 3.6% of 58,319 fatal-crash vehicle involvements.
Contents
- Convertible car sales history and Mustang scale
- Convertible and sports-coupe market trends
- Convertible buyer mix and body-style choices
- Convertible car safety statistics in fatal crashes
- Convertible rollover, fire, and crash-pattern data
- What convertible car statistics can and cannot measure
Convertible Car Sales History and Mustang Scale
Ford’s historical Mustang milestone gives one of the clearest quantified snapshots of convertible scale, but it is a model-specific cumulative count rather than an annual convertible-market series. Through March 1966, Ford reported 755,000 hardtops, 142,000 convertibles, and 103,000 fastbacks in the first-generation Mustang milestone.
Those three rounded counts total 1,000,000 vehicles. Within that defined three-body-style denominator, hardtops were 75.5%, convertibles were 14.2%, and fastbacks were 10.3%; the convertible-to-hardtop count ratio was approximately 0.188, while the convertible-to-fastback ratio was approximately 1.38.
| First-generation Mustang body style | Vehicles through March 1966 | Share of the three listed body styles |
|---|---|---|
| Hardtop | 755,000 | 75.5% |
| Convertible | 142,000 | 14.2% |
| Fastback | 103,000 | 10.3% |
Source: 60 Years of Mustang Milestones. Ford’s figures are rounded historical company figures, and the denominator does not represent all convertible cars.
Ford also said about two-thirds of first-generation Mustangs had V8 engines. The company launched the Mustang in the United States on April 17, 1964, at a stated nominal price of $2,368; that launch price was not inflation-adjusted and was not convertible-trim-specific.
Ford’s 1966 buyer profile was historical and model-specific: the average buyer was 31, more than one-quarter were under 25, women represented 42%, and single buyers represented 35%. These figures describe Mustang buyers, not convertible buyers as a whole.
Convertible and Sports-Coupe Market Trends
Modern Mustang releases provide market context, but Ford’s sports-coupe category combines two-door coupes and convertibles. That means the figures below should not be read as convertible-only sales or as a complete global convertible market total.
Ford reported 125,809 Mustang coupes and convertibles sold in 146 countries during calendar 2017. Its registration dataset covered more than 80 countries and 95% of global new-vehicle volume, according to Ford’s description of IHS Markit coverage.
| Market measure | Reported figure | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Mustang coupes and convertibles | 125,809 | 2017, 146 countries |
| Mustang sales in Europe | 13,100 | 2017, all body styles |
| Mustang sales in Germany | 5,742 | 2017, all body styles |
| European Mustang sales since introduction | 35,000 | 2015–2017, cumulative |
Source: Ford Mustang Is World’s Best-Selling Sports Coupe for Third Straight Year. The release’s category and body-style definitions vary by measure.
Ford later reported 633,000 sixth-generation Mustangs sold in 146 countries from 2015 through 2019, including 102,090 worldwide sales in calendar 2019. For calendar 2018, Ford’s IHS Markit-based estimate placed Mustang at 15.4% of the global sports-coupe segment, up 0.5 percentage points from 2017.
Ford described Mustang as the world’s best-selling sports coupe for five consecutive years through 2019, based on IHS Markit registrations and a category that included two-door and convertible models. The same release reported 33% sales growth in Germany and about 50% growth in Poland in 2019; the Poland figure was approximate and the Germany release did not provide a full denominator.
Source: Ford Mustang conquista o título de carro esportivo mais vendido do mundo. These are source-reported registrations, estimates, or growth statements with the scopes stated above.
Convertible Buyer Mix and Body-Style Choices
Body-style choice can vary sharply by market and period. Ford’s 1966 milestone described a historical global Mustang production-and-sales milestone, while the later German figures described customer mix rather than a complete registration count.
In the German Mustang customer mix described in Ford’s 2018 release, 55% chose the fastback and 45% chose the convertible. The reported gap was 10 percentage points, and the fastback-to-convertible customer ratio was approximately 1.22.
The German convertible share was 3.18 times the 14.2% convertible share calculated from the 1966 three-body-style Mustang milestone. That comparison is directional only because it crosses periods, geographies, definitions, and rounded versus approximate populations.
| Body-style measure | Share | Defined population |
|---|---|---|
| Convertible | 14.2% | Three listed first-generation Mustang body styles, 1966 |
| Hardtop | 75.5% | Three listed first-generation Mustang body styles, 1966 |
| Fastback | 10.3% | Three listed first-generation Mustang body styles, 1966 |
| Convertible | 45% | German Mustang customers in Ford’s 2018 release |
| Fastback | 55% | German Mustang customers in Ford’s 2018 release |
Sources: 60 Years of Mustang Milestones and Ford Mustang Is World’s Best-Selling Sports Coupe for Third Straight Year. The German mix was approximate and was not necessarily a unit-registration split.
Ford also reported that about 80% of German Mustang customers chose the GT configuration and about 20% chose the 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder. Those are configuration shares, not additional body-style measures and not convertible-specific powertrain data.
Convertible Car Safety Statistics in Fatal Crashes
NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System provides a count of vehicles involved in fatal crashes, not sales, fleet prevalence, exposure-adjusted risk, or a causal estimate of convertible safety. For calendar 2023 in the United States, NHTSA recorded 430 convertibles involved in fatal crashes.
Those 430 convertibles represented 0.7% of the 58,319 vehicles in NHTSA’s 2023 fatal-crash vehicle table. The figure is a share of recorded fatal-crash vehicle involvements, so it cannot be converted into a per-mile or per-registered-vehicle risk without an exposure denominator.
| Vehicle category in NHTSA’s 2023 table | Vehicles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Convertibles | 430 | 0.7% |
| Passenger cars | 18,778 | 32.2% |
| Light trucks | 25,336 | 43.4% |
| Motorcycles | 6,432 | 11.0% |
| Large trucks | 5,375 | 9.2% |
Source: FARS Encyclopedia: Vehicles – All Vehicles. The passenger-car, light-truck, motorcycle, and large-truck rows are context categories, while convertible is a body-class measure elsewhere in the report.
The table therefore supports a narrow statement: convertibles made up 0.7% of the vehicles recorded in this US fatal-crash table in 2023. It does not establish that convertibles are safer or less safe than another body style.
Convertible Rollover, Fire, and Crash-Pattern Data
NHTSA’s 2023 rollover and fire tables offer defined context for passenger cars and other vehicle groups, but the cited page does not provide a convertible-specific rollover or fire rate. Passenger cars accounted for 2,307 rollovers, or 12.3% of passenger cars in the rollover table.
| 2023 fatal-crash context | Vehicles | Share in the cited table |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger-car rollovers | 2,307 | 12.3% |
| Light-pickup rollovers | 1,778 | 19.0% |
| Light-truck utility rollovers | 2,396 | 17.1% |
| Large-truck rollovers | 682 | 12.7% |
| Passenger-car fires | 809 | 4.3% |
| Light-truck fires | 864 | 3.4% |
| Large-truck fires | 269 | 5.0% |
Source: FARS Encyclopedia: Vehicles – All Vehicles. The rollover and fire percentages are fatal-crash context measures, not fleet rates and not convertible-specific findings.
Across all vehicle classes, NHTSA’s 2023 fire table recorded 2,108 vehicles with fire, equal to 3.6% of 58,319 fatal-crash vehicle involvements. The total includes all vehicle classes and should not be treated as a convertible outcome.
What Convertible Car Statistics Can and Cannot Measure
The available figures answer different questions. Ford’s historical and registration releases describe model scale, customer mix, and sports-coupe positioning, while NHTSA describes vehicles recorded in fatal crashes; none of these sources alone is a complete convertible ownership, affordability, reliability, or exposure dataset.
NHTSA’s 2023 maneuver table also has a different denominator: 48,522 listed vehicles rather than the 58,319 vehicles in the all-vehicle table. Within that maneuver table, 30,770 vehicles were going straight, or 63.4%; 8,677 were negotiating a curve, or 17.9%; and 4,039 were turning left, or 8.3%.
The remaining reported maneuver categories were passing or overtaking at 947 vehicles, or 2.0%; merging or changing lanes at 838, or 1.7%; stopped in the roadway at 704, or 1.5%; and turning right at 469, or 1.0%. These are not convertible-specific patterns, and the table’s scope, missing values, and unknown values apply.
EPA provides a broad, long-running framework covering every new US light-duty model sold since 1975, but the cited EPA page does not expose a convertible-only series in the available text. For that reason, the evidence here supports carefully defined historical, market, buyer-mix, and fatal-crash statistics—not a single universal convertible-car rate.