Community Question: What Could Chevrolet Do To Improve Camaro Sales?
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It’s a great time and a not so great time for the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro. The sixth-generation of the sports car has been piling up on dealership lots, but at the same time, Chevrolet is pumping out some of the greatest variants of the car we’ve ever seen, like the 2017 Camaro ZL1.
But, great cars don’t mean much if they aren’t selling. And unfortunately, it’s just a matter of market shifts at the moment, as more consumers are looking for crossovers and utility vehicles rather than a pony car. So, we’re coming to you with that in mind for today’s Community Question: what could Chevrolet do to help sales?
General Motors has already confirmed it will shut the Lansing Grand River assembly plant down for two weeks to help curb the Camaro’s growing inventory glut and incentives have risen for the sports car, too. Is it price? Equipment? Lack of marketing?
The Camaro is pretty capable no matter which trim or configuration you choose, and the Camaro is usually present in most Chevrolet ads. The automaker can only push so many incentives on a vehicle before things start to get ugly, too.
So, if you have any creative ideas, sound off in the comment section below.
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When the MCE comes hopefully for MY 2018 and the redo the front and rear including the taillights, lower the belt line all the way back and make the rear side windows a bit lower…Like the 69 Camaro.
Also fix the angle of the radio.
Overall I think it’s a much better car than the fifth gen. Design wise it now beats the Challenger, obviously in performance it beats everything else. Despite all of this it’s still lacking something that makes its special.
We the GM community along with the marketing team have gone around talking about the technicalities that have made it such a good car, but it’s missing that thing that makes it special from first glance. Perhaps there’s nothing you can do to give it a soul, maybe people just need to drive one.
While a certain amount of baby boomers will go after the performance Camaro, I think it is vital that Chevy somehow captures a bigger part of the youth market. Many of the young are into the Mazda 3 and cars like that. Camaro can compete there if it is properly marketed. Instead of solely competing with the Mustang for sales, an effort should be made to compete with the performance imports that so many of the young are attracted to. It’s a shame that the current Camaro is the best Camaro ever and yet sales are lagging.
I have never seen a Camaro commercial on television and also G.M. should emphasis that the 3.6 L (likely majority of sales) requires regular fuel not high test.Same with Cadillac,3.6L, regular fuel…BMW,Audi,Infiniti,Mercedes, with equivalent powertrains require premium.To me that is a huge difference with premium costing on average 20 cents per litre more where i live so 90.8 cents per gallon so about $9 dollars extra every fill up.
sell the biggest engine with the cheapest interior like it was in the performance days.
i think the car is very good but price is too high! And marketing is poor.
I like both the Mustang and Camaro. My region has much better pricing and marketing for the Mustang!
I currently own a Mustang GT Premium 6speed and went to both Chevy and Ford Dealers. Chevy Dealer can only order a fully loaded Camaro SS at a whopping $57,000! Ford Dealer is at $47,000 (without sunroof or automatic transmission – neither of which I want).
So yes…GM needs to lower price and improve marketing!
And also…my Chevy Dealer says he can’t order the ZL1 whereas my Ford Dealer can order GT 350 and upcoming GT 500, so again Ford is way ahead in marketing.
Here in Cayman Islands Ford Dealer has sold many GT Mustangs as opposed to Chevy Dealer selling absolutely no SS Camaros!
The pricing and marketing needs attention!
To clarify: local Chevy Dealer has sold no 6th gen SS Camaros. They did sell a few 5th gen…when pricing was more reasonable.
The Camaro is VERY expensive…. I bought 2 of them in 2009 and 2010, but seeing the price now in 2016? My goodness!!!! I wouldn’t even think about it!
Camaro is present in most Chevrolet ads….Correct. But they are the lame focus group ads. Camaro needs its own separate advertising.
I don’t think it would hurt to lower prices a bit, Camaros like many other GM cars including the Corvette and the entire Cadillac line are expensive and getting more expensive every year. Although I haven’t built one on line, I’m guessing a Camaro SS with some options would carry an MSRP of around $45,000. That’s a lot of money and probably beyond the reach of its target audience. Having said that, I’m not sure how Camaro’s target audience is defined. And maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe the target market isn’t clearly defined or maybe its incorrectly defined. It seems to be priced for old guys like me who couldn’t afford them when we were young. If that’s the case than it competes with the Corvette and maybe that’s not the best place to be.
I think most of us knew it was going to be a bit of a flop when we couldn’t visually tell the difference easily between a 5th and 6th gen.
The issue is that 99.9% (Not a statistical number, just my evaluation) of Camaro buyers AREN’T Sports car buyers.
When the 6th gen came out, they specifically were talking about targeting the likes of the BRZ/FRS.
The issue is however, that camaro buyers are more like, well JEEP buyers.
Camaro buyers aren’t buying the worlds best Sports Car, they are buying a CAMARO. They are buying a 69′ camaro wrapped up into what they can afford in 2015.
My wife and I owned TWO 5th gens, and I bought mine in 2009… right when they came out. The buyers that those resonated with are NOT connecting to the 6th gen. the Market the 6th gen is targetting is a very big competitive minefield, thats not that huge anyway. I did not understand why they targetted as they do.. The BRZ?
Buyers are buying a CAMARO, That means they are buying long-time dreams, bragging rights, a visual package, and a culture. They are buying emotion, and an attitude, and a dream.
Camaro needs to embrace this- They need to embrace it in their Ads, as people like Mackey, Ed, barry, and others hit on… They need to sell the Camaro like Jeep sells the Jeep, not treat it as just another option on the smorgasbord of Chevrolet. They need to embrace it in their products- they already have the Corvette Sports Car- the Camaro is a Pony/Muscle car and thats what it needs to embrace. They also need to price it appropriately by understanding who these buyers are and what price point they can enter the market. Frankly they are wasting money tuning the suspension perfectly and investing in some of these pieces… And they need to embrace it in the way they deal with their customers, and recognize that Camaro buyers aren’t just buying transportation, they are buying something more than that.
Camaro did so well with the 5th gen, and instead of running with what made the 5th gen so successful, they backtracked into a new direction… back to what they did with the 4th gen… that took it off the market… And I don’t really know why!
They can’t survive forever competing against the Mustang alone in a shrinking performance and coupe market. Anything that would broaden the sales base should be looked into: all-wheel drive, a usable backseat and/or trunk, better visibility or perhaps a liftback or quad-coupe bodystyle.
I’m a lifelong GM fan, and someone that doesn’t need four-doors and could afford it if I wanted, but the Camaro just doesn’t make the cut. It isn’t a good enough all around car to serve my needs including foul weather driving and road trips.
Your reasons all hit the nail, or nails, on the head. The back seat is beyond vestigial and AWD would certainly be a performance AND marketing plus in my area. Price isn’t as much of an issue, in my opinion- usability on a daily basis is more critical.
An AWD Camaro would be nice. FCA announced recently that the long in the tooth Challenger would get it as an option on some trim lines.
More info on the 10 speed trans delivery for my ZL1 i ordered in August.
OK, just to put it in perspective in 1976 I bought a 1977 Trans Am with minimal options but the better engine. The sticker was right around $5400 and I got it out the door for just under 5K. That sticker in today’s dollars is about $22,000. That says it all.
No it is also not 1976 anymore.
I bought a new 2015 Mustang this year. Got a great deal, since the 17’s were hitting the lot. I drove the Camaro, but what I got with the Mustang I would have paid about 5K more for the Camaro. The Camaro also felt claustrophobic to me, and I love GM cars. Since I drive 46 miles one way to work, I wanted a cool commute car that didn’t eat me alive in gas, So I bought the turbo 4 and get 30 mile to the gallon. So, The problem with Camaro is Price, Visibility, and not marketing to people that just want a cool commute/ grocery getting car.
This is from my circumstances and may not apply to most people. If I was to purchase the Camaro it would be my second car and not an every day driver. Secondly if I was to get the Camaro I’d want at least the SS trim. That being said, I can’t afford to own this car. From the extra car payment to the high Insurance it’s just not practical. To me I love the new Camaro but I will never own one for the reasons I stated unless it’s ten years from now and used. With a house payment and a car payment it would be difficult to have a $400 a month plus car payment and another $200 a month for Insurance
Who ever said they are hiding it like the 4thgen. I agree. Need some ads.
I drove a 16. Was really nice. Perhaps a little cramped.
I would love to see lower price variants, when the Camaro was introduced it was at a great price with a v6 standard @21k , when the new gen with the 4 cylinder came out it should have been a smaller car like the original 67 Camaro and a less expensive car as well. They learned nothing from the complaints about the visibility of the car either and both dodge and ford have it beat in ease to see around you. So all in all a slimmer, less expensive, more usable model would perfect the camaro. For now let’s see some serious price cuts.
All that money and the car has poor headroom and poor visibility from all views which makes the car dangerous to drive. In this respect, the Mustang is significantly better.
As a tall person who drives in heavy traffic, this takes the car off my list no matter how good other things may be.
That’s exactly why I got a silverado even in 2010 when they had a great price.
Not a lot you can do.
Lots of enthusiast ideas here that just don’t work with the people they need to reach. The reality is they have little trouble selling the SS but the trouble is selling just a general normal Camaro.
As we all know Coupe sales are tanking for every brand. The Camaro like most coupes has a useless rear seat. A trunk that holds little and leaves little appeal to a non enthusiast.
Everyone can sit here and pick their pet peeve but 98% of these will not change much. Lowering the price with incentives usually just picks up the enthusiast that are waiting for incentives.
What needs to be found is a way to be able to sell this car to just about anyone and right now that segment of coupe and car is declining to all aspects.
To make the car cheaper you will have to give up things as you have a better car today and $25K and less buys you little even with a 4 cylinder. People do not buy base cars anymore other than a few diehards.
You can put big windows in it and raise the roof and that will not help as it will gill the styling. You can change the interior but that is not going to fix it.
Changing the engines are the last thing it needs as they are right where they need to be. The fact is this is the best Camaro ever build as it is goes, stops and turns better than any Camaro ever made and they have yet to show us a Z/28 yet.
The reality is in the world. The youth market has little interest in performance as a whole. They only want more power and speed in their phones.
The youths that do what this car can not afford the insurance or the payment. That is not going to change.
The yuppies that grew up longing for these cars are now in the 60’s and 70’s and have moved on. They no longer want cars like this as most have moved to a CTSV or M series. Or even a SUV.
This is a dying segment and GM needs to gear this car as a niche model and sell it global to keep the volumes up as I expect this car and all other performance coupes to continue to decline. Even the Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai coupes failed.
There is money in this segment but no longer as a volume car and it needs to be changed in how they plan on selling it and building it.
With the Corvette to continue increasing in price The Camaro may become the Stingray replacement at some point.
I know many do not like to hear this but all the things I point out are things industry people are discussing. None of this is my ideas it is what I see them presenting as a whole.
While many here want to focus on the small picture of the car itself we should be looking at the entire big picture of the segment and find a way to sell coupes globally to save them for those of us that love them. It is time to get over the low roof and too expensive and look at the big picture as the Mustang sales are down the Challenger is not setting the world on fire sales wise and the Camaro too is under performing. The scary part is these three are the best selling coupes in the world and that should tell you much.
Not every coupe has to have slits for side and rear windows and a chopped roof. In many cases, the back seat for infants without legs could be overlooked.
Take a look at the new E class coupe. It’s a coupe you could drive every day and comes in various performance levels up to 600+ hp. Visibility, styling and headroom are excellent even for guys which are 6’6″.
The E is not really in the same segment.
I think you just about covered the issue.
Was GM planning this gen with the idea Chevrolet would be in Europe? It being a touch smaller than the Mustang and having the 2.0L would fit that.
I know here in the States, it sells many times more than a car like the Miata and is the #2 sporty coupe. So, I’d say some of this is hurt pride of losing the sales lead. Suggestions would be to seek a Camaro re-badger with complementary other-market access. And GM’s alpha needs a platform co-anchor model. I’ve heard awd car-like utility vehicles sell well.
Matt there was intent to take this car globally to other markets. Yes there is no RHD but at the time the Alpha was done this was not a consideration coming out of bankruptcy. Mistake yes but considering how many RHD cars you would sell it is a small mistake.
The Miata is not a good example as it is a two seat car and not in the same class. But it is a good example of global sales. Since 2 seat cars are a limited market Mazda limits sales in each market. They average around 17-18 K units per year hear to keep demand up. Also they do the same in other markets to keep the volume manageable. I can see the Coupe market going this way to preserve the volume needed to keep them in production. It is not as limited segment yet as a 2 seater but it is moving that way.
But the piling on of all the pet grievances is just not addressing the market and segment issues. While the Camaro has some issues none are fatal as some would like to point out.
Styling sold many over the last how many years so I do not see it being a major issue. Price is a little up but in this segment it was never cheap or as cheap as some like to think it was. If you are stopped buy a 4-5K difference then you just barely afforded the last one too. Also you get what you pay for.
Visibility in this car is better than the last one and once you drive it a day or so you do not even notice it. It is far from the worst visibility car out there or ever built.
No one is complaining about the engine line up as it is the most impressive ever offered under the name.
The only real sin right now is there is a back log of cars in the middle of winter around the holidays. This will clear up by spring and life will move on. GM is making more per unit now so the slower coupe sales will hold less impact than say most other cars.
Some can continue down this path of Chicken Little the sky is falling thinking or just let things work out.
Things are going to change for all three in this segment. The Challenger is not setting the world on fires sales wise and now appears to be pushing the new model back till 2021? Not a good thing.
The Mustang is already updating as they missed the mark on the last one with weight and power. They have been working to fix it since the new Camaro arrived. But yet their sales are and have also been down. They have shut the plant once already and may have to do it again. So Ford and the Mustang are feeling similar issues.
As for all the other coupes most all are sold globally in smaller numbers per market that collectively make up the volume needed. Or they charge higher prices to in making up the needed money.
I am a coupe fan but the market does not reflect my feelings. At my age I reflect on the out going feeling too.
While some want to argue price tell me what cars is not too much? In today market you are just not going to get a $25K SS and if you did you would hate it because of what they would have to take out. You can barely buy a new Malibu with any content for $25K and a NA 4 cylinder.
Like I stated it is a big picture deal and the changes in the market are upon us. Consumer choices, prices and regulations are going to make this segment struggle even more into the future. And all the petty gripes here will pale compare to the real market issues it will face.
Some that want a structural change would have to wait for the next gen.
You know what, the day before that hurricane earlier this year, I saw 1SS listings in Florida for $26k. Extreme example and a scummy time to get a car, I know. But, deals will be out there to be haggled for.
Some want more flexible options, and in this day and age, it’s usually the opposite with consolidated packages. I’m sure they’d save money, still satisfying the vast majority, by trimming the number of build combinations.
I’m rooting for the Camaro here. I remember Mustang fans complained about its weight when revealed. They know it’s not on par.
There has to be more to the story here as $26K is below cost.
It was on cars.com.
My impression was they wanted to move cars in the event the hurricane stayed category 4 or 5 and was worse than it ended up.
Maybe it was a click-bait price.
It’s day has past.
When I was a kid there was this teenager loser dork up the street. Every Dad’s nightmare for their daughter. Please GOD don’t date that jackhole.
Well he knocked a girl up. The parents were mortified. No way this fool was becoming a member of their family. So that Dad offered him a gift to go away. He took it and was never heard from again.
It was a Camaro.
What year did he buy you?
Good one Scott, lol
Quite simply, it’s the price. Probably has a 10% price disadvantage against the Mustang, which is huge when you consider what 10% can do to the swing the truck market around. At least it’s more profitable than the Mustang this way, sells title be dammed.
3 main issues
1) Price
2) Back seat is a joke
3) Marketing
Mary B has gone crazy with price increases. I buy trucks every 2 years….spreadsheet it all. Telling you the price increases from GM are nuts. I bought a Silverado earlier in the year and went back 8 months later to buy a Camaro for my father (20% rebate offer). The rebate actually made the car competitive with the competition. The same black 2SS was sitting in the showroom. Sales Mgr told me “just priced wrong…..now that there are some incentives he started to move some Camaro Stock”. All comments above about price 5K+ above competition are accurate.
The backseat: I am 5’8” (average height) and tried to sit in the back to judge room for the kids. Complete joke! I had to scrunch down in the seat and my head was still pressed against the headliner. BTW…I have or owned, 69, 75, 88, 90, 95, 2001, 2013, Camaro or Firebird. If they want to sell 4s and 6s to the “youth” GM has to make it so the car can fit at least 4 average size humans. Come on GM!!!
Marketing: yeah…needs serious help
Price would make a big impact, the back seat would add more sale and marketing…well that’s a no brainer.