Automakers are now reporting their U.S. sales figures for the first three months of 2024, and it makes for some interesting insights on the sports car segment.

Nissan in particular started 2024 with a bang, as it now gets to boast that the Z outsold its Toyota Supra archrival by a decent margin. Sales for the entire sports car segment were down in the first quarter by around 14%, and the Z was one of the few models to experience a considerable increase compared to Q1 2023.

Nissan managed to move 671 units of the Z between January and March, and while that doesn't sound like much, it makes for an increase of as much as 44%. This figure also trumps that of the Toyota Supra, which recorded a 46% decrease in sales with 484 units sold.

Corvette Dominates Sports Car Segment In Q1

As we mentioned before, the year began with slow demand for sports cars. But that didn't stop Chevrolet's iconic Corvette from outselling not only the Nissan Z and Toyota Supra, but also the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GR86. Oh, but we forgot one little tidbit. The Corvette outsold all of those vehicles combined.

So what kind of number allowed the Corvette to impose such dominance over the sports car segment? In total, 8,576 Corvettes were sold in the U.S. during Q1 of this year, which makes for a 8.5% increase compared to last year at this time. That means around 95 'Vettes drove off the lots every day between January and March. Now that's impressive.

But The 'Vette Is Still Ranked Fourth

The Corvette couldn't however, defeat the Ford Mustang, which continues to be the best-selling sports car in America with 13,707 units sold in the first quarter of this year along. Chevrolet's prized sports car also placed right behind the Dodge Challenger and BMW 4-Series, which each recorded a respective 9,737 and 8,847 units sold.

And Now, The Worst-Selling Sports Cars Of Q1

Let's not forget the performance cars that sat at the bottom of the list this quarter. Finishing in dead last was actually the Nissan GT-R, which managed to sell only 77 units. That's a 46.2% decrease, after 143 found homes during Q1 2023. The GT-R's six-figure price tag could serve as an explanation for these surprising results, though demand might pick up soon following recent announcements that 2025 might be Godzilla's final year on sale.

The second-worst was the Audi R8, which is also reaching the end of the line and demands a similar $100K-plus price tag. The V10-powered supercar sold 181 units just before its demise. Next at the bottom of the list is the BMW Z4 roadster, which sold 403 units in comparison to a very similar 398 units last year, and after that was the Lexus RC, which sparked the interest of 410 customers this quarter.