Why Have The Everyday, Asian Sports Cars LOST Out To American Muscle Over The Past 15 Years?

For the same reason big honkin’ pickup trucks continue to sell like wild. Americans like bigger and louder and muscle cars are exactly that when compared to the former Preludes of the world. Those that are non-muscle car consumers can find great lease deals on entry level Bimmers and the like.

i think the article implies that automakers are solely responsible for the fate of sporty-mucscle-type cars. Consumers & safety standards & national policies ultimately force automakers to discontinue "isolated" fan-favorite vehicles whether the automaker wants it or not. They have have to build vehicles that "sells"...basically. If folks are buying in sustainable quantities - why loss money building it?

Automakers can't satisfy all the niche whims & desires for the small-minded fanatics. Otherwise their stock value would tank & they'd be bankrupt very quickly.

Power, Size, American style, price, cheap gas, lifestyle/cultural perception, etc

Because Honda stopped making them.

Honda completely abandoned the market - the Honda Prelude and the Acura Integra were landmark vehicles in their prime and Honda just flushed them away.

Acura has not been the same, since they gave up the great names - Legend, Integra, etc. - and switched to inscrutable alpha numeric designations.

They were among the best cars of the time - some would say better than the competing 3-series BMW's of the time from a handling and driving joy perspective.

Plain and simple, because they DON'T SELL!

Plain and simple: They don't sell because Americans offer far more performance for the price as well as better styling.

The GT86 and an Ecoboost Mustang cost the same, but the Mustang is faster and is the one you'd want at the track as well. The Mustang is also much better looking. Camaro VS GT86? Camaro!

The Japanese don't know how to design a competitive product for the segment. The new Supra should have been the "up" version of a new Celica and that product should have been in every way a Mustang competitor.

who cares? the Audi TT series beats all of them

Yes the TT that sells in the dozens per year worldwide.

The only actual asian competitor of late is the Nissan Z - but its so way out dated. I am when of those who is passed the suv phase (which is really just a station wagon in disguise) and will continue to buy sporty cars. Not sure when - 5 or so years from now? - the market will move away from tanks (suv’s and trucks). Our roads are getting smaller as there are more drivers, so I think the trend will go back to smaller cars. Oh, and waiting judgment on road tests on the Supra.

The Z also has severe durability problems. It's also far too expensive for what it is. Here, Z's languish on the lot with stickers in the high $40K range. They would be a hard sell with $10K discount. A Mustang GT will obliterate it for $35K.

Are you doing LSD? I mean do you actually hallucinate and see the roads shrinking?

Ghetto crowd?

People who want sporty usually also want power. Give me a Mustang or Camaro V-8 and red, throw in some heritage and value is hard to beat. The Asian examples you mentioned are all fwd save for the Miata.
The Audi TT is selling poorly and may change to a 4 door coupe or disappear entirely.

Audi TT Allroad. Tack on some wider fender trim. Raise the ride height. Add wider wheels. Increase pricing by 20%-40%.

You may have hit the nail on the head with respect to heritage. I think there is an element of nostalgia that helps to drive sales. It might be interesting to discover the age demographics of the current Challenger/Camero/Mustang buyers. Those boys who lusted after muscle cars in their youth in the mid-late 60's to the early-mid 70's can now afford a fun car. At the same time the auction prices of classic muscle cars are shooting through the roof. Are demographics providing an edge to the Americans?

@dumpsty i think what you are looking for is the quattro but sadly that will probably never happen

Simple. Asian MFR put resource on upscale sub-brands, and that leaves American muscle with no competitors.

It also leaves the Asians with zero revenue stream from a very lucrative segment.

Same can be said for Germans... but apparently both of them don't bother with American

I have some theory's. The one common link that Mustang, Camaro, Challenger have is that they all have enough power and probably sell more automatics than manuals. The simple fact is everyone can drive an auto but not everyone can drive a manual. In a small non turbo engine an automatic is a dog in performance. Also today its all about carrying your friends with you. With Japanese and Korean sports cars very few of them allow you (Type R and WRX excepted)to carry multiple friends with you. Styling. Muscle car styling appeals to young and old. Japanese/Korean sports car styling seems to appeal more to the young. Unless they are total car enthusiasts what average 50 or 60 yr. old is ever going to want to own a Honda Civic Type R. Honda is charging high money for it and its incredibly capable but it looks like it belongs to the cheap rice performance crowd. Next there is history. The Mustang has never stopped producing vehicles since its inception in 1964. Camaro took a break but not a long one. Challenger reached back into its illustrious history and was able to cater to the classic muscle car enthusiasm. Mazda could have done better to cultivate its RX7 even if it abandoned it rotary engine. The 370 Z should hark back to the original 240Z. It would be more practical. The new Supra is too small compared to its predecessors and too expensive. What's interesting neither the Japanese, the Europeans in all the years that they have been selling cars in these country ever showed any interest in the muscle car phenomenon at all. The simple fact is the inexpensive sporty or sports car market is simply too small for any profitability. Mass market dull boring sedans and SUV's are what most people want to drive.

I have always thought the Asian manufacturers gave up on the sports car segment, save for a few oddities. So yes, American muscle won due to the other party dropping out of this two horse race.