Muscle cars are one of the most fun segments to argue over because trying to find the clear class leader is an arduous task given the constantly changing landscape. Custom tuners are pushing horsepower ceilings higher, special edition models like the Camaro ZL1 1LE and Mustang GT350R tear up the race track almost equally as well, and then you have Dodge doing its own thing with special Challengers like the Hellcat or Demon. That's why the bean counters like to use sales figures to figure out which is the winner.
Sales figures turn car competitions into popularity contests, but that comparison is more appropriate for the midsize luxury crossover segment. It exists entirely because of its popularity, and we've gone from a time where too few contenders has turned into a table of options. While Mercedes, BMW, and Audi have been competing here for years, our favorite contenders are two of the newest, the Jaguar F-Pace and Porsche Macan. They represent an attempt to bring each brand's sporting and luxury characteristics to the crossover in a more visually appealing way than Germany's three big luxury brands manage. So with the Macan having been around since 2014 and the F-Pace celebrating a year of existence, which is doing best?
The fact that Porsche beat Jaguar to the market by two years has helped it carve out a lead, but the gorgeous F-Pace is pining to erode that. With 1,440 F-Pace crossovers having found new homes this past May, the British automaker is trailing the Macan's 1,730 sales during the same period. So what can Jaguar do to close the gap? Well, there's not much it's not doing already. Both come in five trim levels with varying power and luxury. Porsche's trick is to start higher than Jaguar and sell to the upper ends of the segment, with the cheapest Macan starting at $47,000 and going as high as $87,700 for a base Macan Turbo with the Performance Package delivering a not so subtle 440 horsepower.
An F-Pace can be had for $42,065 and goes as high as $59,775 for a base F-Pace S with 380 horsepower. Thankfully for the Brits, Jaguar has an F-Type SVR in the pipeline that should overwhelm the Macan Turbo with up to 575 horsepower coming from a 5.0-liter supercharged V8. Throw the SVR, a few extra luxury items, and the rumored F-Pace hybrid into the lineup and Jaguar will have itself a recipe to beat the Macan. As long as Porsche doesn't think of another clever model in the meantime, that is. Sales figures found on Good Car Bad Car.