GM hasn't given up on Chevrolet Camaro, next gen could offer cheap muscle – report

When General Motors announced in 2023 it was retiring the Chevrolet Camaro once again, it said “this is not the final chapter for the nameplate”.

Now, GM Authority reports word from sources close to the matter that GM wasn’t just paying lip service, and that it hasn’t given up on reviving the pony car.

These sources have said affordability is the focus for the next Camaro, which could mean Chevrolet has changed tack after previous reports said the nameplate would return on an electric vehicle.

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A seventh-generation Camaro coupe reportedly needs to be “affordable and attainable”, and that “affordability is a priority”.

If it can’t be offered at an accessible price point, a source told GM Authority this future Camaro won’t see the light of day.

In 2023, the Camaro opened at US$27,495 (around A$44,000 today) for the base 1LS, powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

This was dropped for model year 2024, with the base price jumping to US$32,495 (~$52,000) for the 3.6-litre V6-powered 1LT.

Chevrolet additionally offered the sixth-generation Camaro with both naturally aspirated and supercharged 6.2-litre V8 engines, with the ZL1 variant powered by the latter and costing US$69,695 (~$113,000) in North America.

Towards the end, the Camaro’s base price was comparable to that of its arch-rival the Ford Mustang, which currently opens at US$31,920, as well as the Toyota GR86 (currently priced from US$30,000 or ~A$48,500) and Subaru BRZ (from US$32,210 or ~A$52,000).

It’s unclear how Chevrolet could make the Camaro more affordable.

While its predecessor was based on the same Zeta platform as Holden’s VE-VF Commodore, the sixth-generation Camaro released in 2016 shared its Alpha platform with luxury Cadillac models, and GM has no other platform for a rear-wheel drive, combustion-powered passenger car.

Even if it used the same electric vehicle (EV) platform as the new Equinox EV, it would be extremely unlikely to be any cheaper than the old Camaro.

A move to a front-wheel drive platform would be seen as sacrilege to Camaro fans. GM considered replacing the Camaro with a FWD model in the early 1990s, but development hurdles plus public outrage to Ford’s mooted replacement of the Mustang with the FWD Probe put paid to that.

Chevrolet has previously offered more affordable coupes to slot in under the Camaro, including the Monza and Beretta plus coupe versions of the humble Cavalier and Cobalt.

While those models are long gone, during the 21st century it has flirted with introducing a more affordable sports coupe.

At the 2012 Detroit motor show, it revealed two coupe concepts: the Tru 140S, a front-wheel drive coupe related to the Cruze; and the Code 130R, a rear-wheel drive coupe only slightly larger than the contemporary Toyota 86.

Both used a four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, but sadly neither reached production.

The pony car segment the Camaro competed in has continued to decline in volume globally.

Last year, the Ford Mustang posted its worst annual sales results in its 60-year history, and was outsold for the first time by the unrelated electric Mustang Mach-E.

The Dodge Challenger exited production in 2023, and its replacement – the coupe version of the new Charger – is only now reaching US dealers. The new model ditches V6 and V8 engines in favour of either electric or twin-turbo inline six power.

The chances of it being sold in Australia are slim, after plans to sell the previous Challenger here as a Charger failed.

Meantime, Ford is finally about to land its new S650-generation Mustang in Australia, where the Blue Oval’s pony car continues to be the country’ top-selling sports car and a facsimile of it contineses to represent Ford in the premier motorsport category.

About 1200 Camaro 2SS and 320 Camaro ZL1 vehicles were sold by HSV dealers between September 2018 and early 2020, following right-hand drive development and remanufacture by Walkinshaw Automotive.

The GM muscle car was intended to be a spiritual successor for the hot Holden Commodores sold by HSV until 2017, but RHD conversion costs made pricing uncompetitive with the first global Mustang released in 2015, with a starting price of about $90,000 and about $160,000 for the ZL1 flagship.

A weakening Aussie dollar put the final nail in the official RHD Camaro program in 2020, when Holden was axed and GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) was established to sell Chevrolets including the remanufactured Silverado pickup and now the global C8 Corvette supercar.

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