What Chevrolet Says About Falling Sixth-Gen Camaro Sales
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By this point, we have established extremely well that sales of the all-new, 2016 Chevrolet Camaro are down. In the first seven months of the year, Camaro sales have dipped 15.4 percent to 42,354 units. Truth be told, sales of the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger are also down — but only by 5.5 percent, meaning that Camaro sales are actually slipping faster than its two primary rivals.
Camaro vs. Challenger vs. Mustang Deliveries - Jan 2016 - Aug 2016 - United States
| MODEL | YTD 16 / YTD 15 | YTD 16 | YTD 15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUSTANG | -5.53% | 72,530 | 76,772 |
| CHALLENGER | -5.08% | 40,181 | 42,332 |
| CAMARO | -15.40% | 42,354 | 50,062 |
| TOTAL | -8.34% | 155,065 | 169,166 |
The decreasing sales are a strange development: an all-new model typically results in sales growing, rather than decreasing. So, what does Chevy have to say about it all?
Higher Inventories And Fleet Sales Of Fifth-Gen
In speaking to Automotive News, Chevrolet spokesman Jim Cain attributed the decline to 2015 being a model change-over.
“A year ago we were running out the old model,” he said. “We had higher inventories and higher fleet sales.”
That “running out of the old model” is generally associated with higher incentives to clear out inventory (of the fifth-generation Camaro) in order to make room for an all-new product (the sixth-generation Camaro).
Higher Price
Another vital factor is the price of the sixth-gen model over its predecessor. The starting price of the 2016 Camaro is $1,995 higher than that of the last-generation 2015 model. The difference grows to $3,490 for the V-6 engine, since the base 2016 Camaro is equipped with a turbo four-cylinder. SS models with the V-8 engine start at $2,795 more.
To that end, Cain highlights that, according to KBB, Camaro transaction prices are up $3,584 over last year.
Higher prices resulting in lower sales volume shouldn’t be too much of a surprise in what has typically been a price-sensitive segment.
| Trim Level | 2016 Chevrolet Camaro | 2015 Chevrolet Camaro | + / – 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camaro Coupe | |||
| 1LS | Model Not Available | $24,700 | Not Applicable |
| 2LS | Model Not Available | $26,140 | Not Applicable |
| 1LT | $26,695 | $27,000 | -$305 |
| 2LT | $30,795 | $30,200 | +$595 |
| 1SS | $37,295 | $34,500 | +$2795 |
| 2SS | $42,295 | $38,300 | +$3995 |
| ZL1 | Model Not Available | $56,500 | Not Applicable |
| Z/28 | Model Not Available | $73,300 | Not Applicable |
| Camaro Convertible | |||
| 1LT | Price Not Available | $32,200 | Not Applicable |
| 2LT | Price Not Available | $36,100 | Not Applicable |
| 1SS | Price Not Available | $40,500 | Not Applicable |
| 2SS | Price Not Available | $43,400 | Not Applicable |
| ZL1 | Model Not Available | $61,700 | Not Applicable |
Non-Existent Incentives
Chevy is also keeping from incentivizing the Camaro at the moment. Since the launch of the sixth-generation model through August 31, 2016, Chevrolet has not offered a single cash incentive on the vehicle.
By comparison, Ford has consistently been offering a $1,000 Smart Bonus Cash alongside 0% APR financing on the 2016 Mustang, which is already priced to start lower than the Camaro.
Cutting Fleet Sales
Todd Christiansen of Camaro Marketing tells us that Chevy is also keeping the Camaro away from fleet sales.
The effort is part of GM’s well-publicized strategy to cut sales to daily rental car fleets. The practice reduces overall sales volume but delivers various benefits like higher resale and residual values, lower incentives, and higher Average Transaction Prices (ATPs). More importantly, it also boosts profit margins. Traditionally, General Motors hasn’t championed such practices; the strategic change is one of the key differences between the “New GM” and the bankrupt “old GM”.
How It Feels Not Being The Sales Champ
From January through July, the Ford Mustang outsold the Camaro by nearly a factor of two, and the Dodge Challenger is nipping on the Camaro’s heels to become the second best-selling car in the muscle car segment.
In speaking to Chevy, we got the sentiment that it “sucks” not being the sales champ. For what it’s worth, Chevrolet is also very well aware that the gen six Camaro is widely recognized as the car to get in the class.
Part Of The Plan?
We did our best to dig deeper and ask whether the higher pricing and associated drop in sales volume is all “part of the plan” for the sixth-gen Camaro, but didn’t get very far.
Chevrolet is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Camaro for the 2017 model year. In doing so, it’s launching the Camaro 50th anniversary edition, along with the super high-performance 2017 Camaro ZL1 and 2017 Camaro 1LE track handling package for both, the V-6-powered 2017 Camaro LT 1LE and the V-8-powered 2017 Camaro SS 1LE.
The GM Authority Take
This is all quite the mixed bag, but our takeaway is such: the higher price of the sixth-gen is definitely taking a toll on its sales volume. That much is clear.
But the real question is whether Chevy’s current strategy is delivering performance results (such as higher profits) compared to the approach it took with the fifth-generation Camaro, a vehicle that had a lower starting price and was also offered with more incentives.
We’re also curious to find out what will happen when Chevrolet does add incentives to clear out the 129-day supply of 2016 Camaro inventory in the U.S. (as of August 1, 2016).
Looks like we will have like we’ll have to wait six to twelve months to see how it all plays out, won’t we?
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A 60 to 90 day supply is usually the norm for inventory levels . The lots at the plant are jammed full of 2016 models and for GM to move all that metal they are going to have to have what they call in the industry is a ” fire sale ” . Which in turn will hurt 2017 model sales .
Chevy’s pricing of the Camaro is consistant with what Cadillac did , come out with a new product that is over-priced . Their upside down plan to sell fewer cars at higher TAP’s is a disaster . You don’t win in gaining market share with this type of stratedgy .
Styling of the Camaro is going to be an issue that will be different from each potential buyer . Some love it and others not so much . But my 2 cents worth is it looks to much like the prior years car and the price increase is turning buyers off .
I’ve said this before but I really wish the Avista was the new Camaro… It’s such a modern take on the classy Gen 2 split bumper. It had a nicer/lower belt line too which would make the car easier to live with.. IMO price is not the Camaro’s issue. It’s the design. People will pay the money Chevrolet asks if the Camaro was so gorgeous that everybody just Had to have one. Knocking a few grand off with incentives will move the sales needle a tad but it would be short lived. The chassis & powertrain is the best it’s ever been but the body needs fresh sheet metal. There’s no ‘gotta have it’ factor in the exterior design unfortunately. It looks too much like the 5th gen mce and that look is just long in the tooth.
Chevy’s C6 Camaro is a very good car as every magazine that have tested the C6 Camaro has ranked it ahead of Ford’s Mustang and even the 2015 BMW M4. Maybe Chevy needs not actors to do a commercial where the public is informed how the C6 Camaro isn’t just better than the Mustang, it’s also better than the BMW M4 which is recognized as the standard of the world.
I think with all the color options available some of the dealers just arent taking advantage. Who wants black interior on every color? I wouldnt. If i were to trade, id have to special order one. Havent seen one i like better than mine yet which is one of 773 made in 2014.. So not really looking to trade. But may buy a 6th gen as another car perhaps. I like the 2017 zl1. I think the Camaro Fifty was boring. GM should have went over the top with it!
Not really the 50th Aniversary of the Camaro since it was discontinued for seven years. How bout 43rd year.
I don’t like camaro’s exterior. It looks like a plastic toy for lil kids. Too cartoonish I’d say. I’m not a stang fan, but that car looks like a real car made of iron.
Plus, camaro has ugly tail lights and ugly rear bumper… The best part is the interior, except for the huge dash in front of the driver. Like its a truck or smth… Meh
Let me guess….you drive a Toyota…right? And you are an authority on what looks good???
I don’t like the exterior at all. It looks like a plastic toy for lil kids. I’m not a ford guy, like it or not, but the stang looks like a real car, which was built with iron… Camaro is too cartoonish. Plus, it has an ugly rear. Rear bumper is awful, just like the tail lights… Meh
Sorry for the double post.
They released the 1LE to late in the year, the previous gen had magazine hype late 2014 and more into 2015 so it was seen and heard about. Then telling public new Gen 6 1le is going to be better, so people held off to wait for new model. New model should of dropped before summer, but now they are taking orders in October. Previously do to the summer only tires, Chevrolet will do stop production during winter months. So now it will be spring 2017 until the new 1LE drops.
Too many arm chair CEOs in here to realize the Camaro is actually doing pretty well. Not great, but pretty decent. Transaction prices are way up and that’s what GM is going for. Ford is playing the fleet game and there have been big incentives since day 1.
As far as hardware/ performance for its price, nothing can touch it. If you want a lower performance (think more than just 1/4 mile) car for less, get the Mustang. Every secretary, 17 year old and Enterprise has one though.
I will agree the Camaro is a solid 8.5 in styling and should be at least a 9.5, but to say it’s overpriced shows just how uninformed you are.
Nice way to spin the drop and in sales and it all sounds legitimate, however, an all new model should be able to endure higher prices, lower incentives, and reduced fleet sales and still post a sales increase. All of the above excuses except possibly the fleet sales are normal for new models yet they usually sale better anyway. The exception is usually when the buying public doesn’t particularly like the new model which appears to be the case here. Personally, I don’t find it sufficiently different looking to even warrant a second look. I can tell the difference but I doubt most buyers can.
A more sufficiently differentiated car with what Lutz called the “gotta have it” factor would likely be selling far better than last years models. Blame the designers or blame Welburn for this one. I think dynamically it’s good but perhaps it doesn’t look good enough.
That’s because GM didn’t think to ask the public what it wanted! Here’s what we want: the camaro buying public. We are trying to relive our youth in the classic cars we grew up with but we also live all the modern technology and features of today’s cars. So start building the old body style 1967-1969 for the 50 year anniversary but put all the modern stuff in them. Some maverick builders have done just that based on the 1998-2002 camaro body. It looks amazing!! I want one!!!!!
Actually GM did ask the public what they wanted. And next to everyone said “more of the same” to include the high belt line and low roof. So GM delivered. I dont personally think the styling is THE deal breaker like so many believe. Its the price! That said, the styling isnt helping. To the layman on the street, it looks almost the same.
I personally prefer it greatly to the 5th gen, but then again, I am one of the few on this site who also belives the 6th gen should have been the car to KILL the ‘retro’ bs that is currently weighing these cars down. Its the 21st century. I’m surprised any automaker would proudly reveal a car that apes its great grandfather.
The reason tye originals were so good was in part, due to the revolutionary styling. I see the Challenger, Mustang, and Camaro as stylistic exercises in navel gazing from the big three. Rule numebr one to greaat styling is the customer doesn’t know what the hell they want till you show them. Look at the C7. 100% 21st century. Next to nothing is based on the past except a vestigal nod in the chrome strip on the grill of the base model.
The Camaro should have did the same. A fresh 21st century Camaro was in order. Instead GM gave us a 21st century chassis with a body chained in the past.
Nothing wrong with the styling, not crazy about the back lights though. Visibility only became an issue with the spoiled millenials who are used to driving Hondas and Toyotas. No one complained about visibility on some of the 1930s cars which were not exactly an atrium, especially the rearward view on some were not the best. No one complaine about visibility in the 50s and 60s when they were actually choppy the roofs down on 30s style Hotrods. No one complained about the rearward visibility of the Custom Vans that were all over the streets in the 1970s. A generation of people today or just spoiled.
I can only speak for myself – the Camaro taught be a lesson I won’t forget; car magazine articles are written by young twenty somethings that only have a mental capacity to think of themselves(I’ve researched it and in most cases it’s true). I went in to check out the “COTY” based on C&D and MT articles. I had not yet even bothered to look at a Mustang – also based on C&D and MT articles. Upon opening the door of the Camaro I knew I could not buy one, the back seat is just too small to accommodate even my thin 7 year old, much less my nine year old both of whom are a bit tall for their age. I did however go on a test drive, while I liked the interior of the V6 (it had leather, as I won’t buy a car w/o leather for a number of reasons) I found that the gripes of poor outward visibility of the Camaro are not unfounded, I was uncomfortable with outward visibility the entire time I was in the car. Also once the driver’s door was shut, it is very small, my head brushed the ceiling, I had to stop well short of a stoplight to keep the light in view, and the trunk…doesn’t look like it could accommodate luggage for two. IMO GM screwed this car up, putting driving dynamics ahead of day-to-day what has actually been done is you’ve turned the Camaro into a less expensive Corvette option.
BTW as a result of checking out a Camaro I figured if the magazines were so wrong about the Camaro they were probably off about the Mustang as well, and now there is a premium red Mustang GT sitting in my garage. I was so impressed by the Mustang I bought one on the spot – something I don’t normally do. I was shocked that my kids had more than enough room in the backseat, and they love sitting back there, the did not willing sit in the back of the Camaro. I was impressed that the trunk easily could handle luggage for 2+. The Mustang is a great day-to-day car, while the Camaro may be quicker around a track – a Mustang is still fun to drive around a track, were I ever to take it to one, which I doubt I will do.
Honestly I owe GM thanks for putting me in a Mustang, I may never have checked one out had it not been for my experience with the 16 Camaro.
I find this kind of interesting because that is one of the biggest gripes I have with mustang- If I wanted practicality, I’d buy a Focus RS. The mustang is supposed to be a sports car and put performance ahead of silly things like luggage space and back seats. The back seats are there for classification purposes and taxing, as well as a place to put your purse… its no place for a family vehicle….
Thats my .02 frankly, But thats also probably why I sold my Camaro and bought a ferrari.
But your Mustang has a Chinese made transmission.
Management and engineering continue to raise the bar for the performance and mpg for the Camaro. With the right options, the Camaro is a 200mph track ready car at a bargain price.
The problem is, the sacrifices made to produce a body style that works well at 200 mph, is of no use to the potential buyer of a mid level camaro, used as a daily driver. A roof that is 2 inches higher is bad for racing at 200 mph, but good for outward visibility, and less stressful. It is also silly that rear seat leg room is just two inches, unless the front seat is moved up and unsafe to drive.
GM has to make some trade offs for the next Camaro.
I hate the low rooflines and high beltlines. tiny Windows.
I would have bought a 1ss manual 3 months ago, but did not like the price point. So I will keep driving my antique vintage classic 2011 Camaro.
I would like to see Chevy become a non profit org. and sell them at cost. Right off the loss on their taxes.
I think the Camaro is way over priced!!!!!!
the excessively high prices compared to the mustang and similarly equipped vehicles are why i havent bought one. the cost/value of the SS just isnt there in comparison to not only previous models of the camaro (since the IROC that i had back in the 80s) but other vehicles from other makers as well.
ive waited long enough for camaros to be get reasonable prices but it seems that isnt going to happen.
unless something drastic happens from the chevy marketing department, an S2000RR is going to be my next fun toy.