Way back in January of this year, Holden went on the record stating there will always be a rear-wheel drive V8 sport car in the brand’s lineup of vehicles. Our gut reaction was a right-hand drive 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, possibly reintroducing the Monaro nameplate.
Since then, Holden has reaffirmed plans for a V8 sport car, but it won’t be the 2016 Camaro. During the Belle Isle unveiling of the car, Chevrolet stated there were no plans to produce the car for right-hand drive markets. We mention Holden specifically because the brand will be without its rear-wheel drive V8 Commodore by 2017.
Is General Motors making a mistake by not offering the car in right-hand drive guise?
Ford has currently pounced on the Australian market with the news of the Mustang being produced in right-hand drive. Thousands of Aussies have shown interest in the pony car, with plenty of orders already placed. GM could go head-to-head with its longtime rival in Oz by offering the 2016 Camaro down under and in other RHD markets.
Of course, there are development costs to this type of program, and they may be more than GM sees fit. We’ve heard the program has been on, then off, from the beginning and has ultimately been shelved for the foreseeable future.
Let us know, is this a crucial mistake for GM? Or a smart move to save development costs? After all, Holden will be receiving some sort of V8 sport car. We’re just in the dark on what it may be. Vote in the poll, and sound off in the comments.
Comments
This is why GM has lost in certain markets to it’s competitors, because they refused to produce right-hand-drive vehicles. Now going forward, GM should definitely bring the Camaro, Corvette, Cadillac vehicles, and other GM vehicles in low and high volumes numbers, in RHD.
Rather than downsize Holden engineering to the point that it almost doesn’t exist (while Ford Australia expand Australian engineering), GM should have left it as is and given the RHD engineering work for Camaro to Holden. They did engineer the 5th gen.
Absolutely. I live in the united States, but the rest of the world should also have the Camaro in their respective configuration required!
Just another reason why the Manchester United players won’t use the Camaros that were shipped to England for them to drive as part of Mr. Ewanick’s unapproved, $600+ million sponsorship deal with the English football team.
But the groundskeepers and office workers who’ve been driving them are reportedly pleased. The players seem happy with their right-hand drive Aston Martins, and Lambos and Range Rovers.
This is not a question for those with too little info like people like us on the web site.
First what must be considered are several things.
Can the Alpha support RHD?
How much to change it over if it can?
How many sales in Europe, Japan and Australia will you have?
How soon till the Alpha gets a reboot with Cadillac replacing the ATS and CTS models. Could the Six Gen not be a long term car till we get number 7?
Could a Omega Coupe be in the works to go overseas? GM needs more production on the platform and the Monaro was a larger car than the Camaro to some degree in wheel base. Vauxhall could get the same model.
We must pay attention to what GM states. They said no Camaro but they never said no RWD coupe. The things we don’t know often lead to bite you in the ass if you don’t pay attention.
If GM won’t build a RHD Camaro, it will be the dumbest thing they’ve done in quite a while.
Look at Australia for instance. The Commodore is still selling at record numbers in V8 spec.
HSV sells the V8 model only, and they’re selling in huge numbers now.
Once the Commodore is retired, the customers that want to upgrade their SS or HSV, would naturally migrate toward the Camaro. They’re not insignificant numbers when you take into account other RHD markets like the UK, and Japan.
Sure, you can legally drive LHD cars in those countries, but not everyone is accustomed to driving a LHD vehicle in a RHD market.
Ford has built the Camaro’s main rival, The Mustang in RHD, and dealers in Australia were overwhelmed with the interest and actual orders that they received. Ford even had to delay the delivery dates of orders already taken, and the cars are still selling well.
GM, don’t make the mistake of forcing your faithful customers to turn to the Blue Oval to get their pony car fix.
Give them the car they have wanted ever since the 5th Gen was released.
Development costs will be easily absorbed.
what a big mistake not making a right hand drive. a fantastic looking car… I would buy one for definite if available in the UK.
GM Please make RHD 2016 Camaro available to South African customers as well. We love these muscle cars.