Word on new Camaro?

[CobraBob]

CobraBob made some good points, and some I agree with. I dont think the Camaro's as big a risk as he believes, but it is a risk. And the future really doesnt look good for any of the Big 3 w/ all of them teetering along the low-side of the stock market - but how else are you going to revive your business (especially in automotive) without new and fresh vehicles? Sometimes you have to take a loss in order to make a profit down the road, and as much as that sucks maybe GM needs that in order to get rid of the bean counters and get the blood flowing to the right spots again.

Good point from your post as well. When I referred to GM's "risk" I meant that the last generation Camaro did not sell well for GM, and with GM's financial woes they cannot afford to fail on this one. Remember that sales of the lst gen kept declining year to year, partly because GM just didn't put any marketing into it. So for GM to spend money on a new car that might not make it from the get-go is a financial risk GM cannot afford. And I don't believe a new Camaro will draw more attention to Chevy in general. They already have the new Corvette to do that. The Camaro has always been a niche vehicle for those who wanted sport but needed a quasi back seat or couldn't afford the Vette.

Let's face it. The Mustang was much more popular and GM didn't market the Camaro well at all. To compete against the Mustang, a new Camaro will have to be at least the following.
* A new and widely accepted design.
* Quality and features equal to or better than the new Mustang.
* A V-6 model and a 400hp+ V8 model (with a separate model designation).
* A 300hp model for those who want the car, don't want a V6 but feel 400hp is a bit too much. This might be a real key IMO. Heck, Dodge certainly has learned this. Maybe a Z-28 and an SS396 or SS427 small block.
* Decent marketing of the Camaro at least in the magazines. Some TV spots wouldn't hurt.

Personally I would love to see a new Mustang/Camaro/Challenger competition. But at this point the Mustang/Challenger would be the strongest sellers. Chevy would have to pull a rabbit out of their hat to compete with those two. JMO. I love to speculate like this.

 

[Ling_650vette]

Good point from your post as well. When I referred to GM's "risk" I meant that the last generation Camaro did not sell well for GM, and with GM's financial woes they cannot afford to fail on this one. Remember that sales of the lst gen kept declining year to year, partly because GM just didn't put any marketing into it. So for GM to spend money on a new car that might not make it from the get-go is a financial risk GM cannot afford. And I don't believe a new Camaro will draw more attention to Chevy in general. They already have the new Corvette to do that. The Camaro has always been a niche vehicle for those who wanted sport but needed a quasi back seat or couldn't afford the Vette.

Let's face it. The Mustang was much more popular and GM didn't market the Camaro well at all. To compete against the Mustang, a new Camaro will have to be at least the following.
* A new and widely accepted design.
* Quality and features equal to or better than the new Mustang.
* A V-6 model and a 400hp+ V8 model (with a separate model designation).
* A 300hp model for those who want the car, don't want a V6 but feel 400hp is a bit too much. This might be a real key IMO. Heck, Dodge certainly has learned this. Maybe a Z-28 and an SS396 or SS427 small block.
* Decent marketing of the Camaro at least in the magazines. Some TV spots wouldn't hurt.

Personally I would love to see a new Mustang/Camaro/Challenger competition. But at this point the Mustang/Challenger would be the strongest sellers. Chevy would have to pull a rabbit out of their hat to compete with those two. JMO. I love to speculate like this.

You pretty much hit it on the head. I would counter but I'd be saying the exact same thing lol.

 

[BlueOvalAvenger]

Last thing I read was the plant they were making the Camaro/Firebirds was a plant in Canada. The Canadian Government gave GM a pretty large loan to keep the plant open back in the 80's so their economy wouldn't take a huge hit if GM closed the plant down. GM was having problems with the plant because it wasn't efficient. Anyways, to make it short GM pretty much sold exclusive rights to make the Camaro to the Canadians until they pay the loan off...which is scheduled to happen in 2017. Oh...as for the plant...they can't just fire it back up and start making Camaros...they tore it down to sell the land.

 

[FredK'03Cobra]

The Camaro has always been a niche vehicle for those who wanted sport but needed a quasi back seat or couldn't afford the Vette.
Let's face it. The Mustang was much more popular and GM didn't market the Camaro well at all.

Bob,
Have to disagree with you on this. Pony cars were good sellers through the years. And, during the seventies and through the eighties the Camabirds sold very well -- better than Mustangs. -- Especially when up against the Mustang IIs. The real Fox bodied Mustang uprising didn't occur until the late 80s and into the 90s.
Ford didn't advertise Mustangs worth a darn for the last twenty years -- until the next gen 05 Mustangs were going to be released. They didn't bother with ads for the return of the GT in 82, they did nothing to promote the 84 anniversary models. Other anniversary models have gotten a badge, but no promotion. A large number of auto enthusiasts have no idea what SVT is/was/does. Nor do many really know about the Cobra that hit the streets in 03. -- That's why they sat on dealer lots.
Chevy didn't do much with the Camaro as far as ads goes. But, Pontiac always had a steady stream going for the 'Birds. Remember the stop light confrontation ads of the 90s? Even that was more than the Mustang got in the last 20 years. Ford was going to replace the Mustang in 89-90 with the car that was later named the Probe -- remember that one? Was anyone else here part of the letter writting campain?
GM just has little desire to market cars that don't sell at least 100K units per year (excluding the 'Vette). Just look at the Fiero, the Caprice/Impala, the Aurora, and others that are gone. All because they didn't achieve, or maintain those numbers.

 

[Black04Lightning]

The CAMARO is dead , TERMINATORS RULE , Enough said already ..............

 

[Vancouver83LTD]

Bob,
Have to disagree with you on this. Pony cars were good sellers through the years. And, during the seventies and through the eighties the Camabirds sold very well -- better than Mustangs. -- Especially when up against the Mustang IIs. The real Fox bodied Mustang uprising didn't occur until the late 80s and into the 90s.
Ford didn't advertise Mustangs worth a darn for the last twenty years -- until the next gen 05 Mustangs were going to be released. They didn't bother with ads for the return of the GT in 82, they did nothing to promote the 84 anniversary models. Other anniversary models have gotten a badge, but no promotion. A large number of auto enthusiasts have no idea what SVT is/was/does. Nor do many really know about the Cobra that hit the streets in 03. -- That's why they sat on dealer lots.
Chevy didn't do much with the Camaro as far as ads goes. But, Pontiac always had a steady stream going for the 'Birds. Remember the stop light confrontation ads of the 90s? Even that was more than the Mustang got in the last 20 years. Ford was going to replace the Mustang in 89-90 with the car that was later named the Probe -- remember that one? Was anyone else here part of the letter writting campain?
GM just has little desire to market cars that don't sell at least 100K units per year (excluding the 'Vette). Just look at the Fiero, the Caprice/Impala, the Aurora, and others that are gone. All because they didn't achieve, or maintain those numbers.

True, yet I can hardly believe the Monte Carlo sells, you almost never see them up here, I saw more at the GM display at the autoshow than on the streets this yeart.
are they a big seller in the USA?

 

[Ling_650vette]

They sell, but I dont think its an extreme volume # to warrant relying soley on it to revive the company (not that anyone's saying that). Its probably not the "magic" 100k # either, but its probably higher than what most people would think.