Chevrolet Camaro Team To Put More Focus On Entry, Mid-Level Models In Near Future: Exclusive
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Between the rollouts of the Corvette Grand Sport, Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, Camaro ZL1, Camaro ZL1 1LE, and the introduction of the 2019 Corvette ZR1, the past 24 months have been a constant barrage of 6.2L V8 rockets of Americana to all challengers from Chevrolet.
For the money, the Chevys all punch well above their weight, even if they’re still considered expensive. $70,000 for a Camaro is, after all, a far cry from the days getting a 5.7L-powered F-Body for the price of a family car. To that point, Chevrolet seems to be acknowledging that the bottom end of the performance spectrum could use some love, too.
“We’re trying to do more in the lower end,” said Todd Christensen, of Chevrolet Performance Marketing, at the 2017 LA Auto Show last month. “When I think about Camaro, it’s still the heart of the market. So we’re thinking about ways to repackage/reprice.”
The Camaro is currently holds the most expensive V8 entry price in the segment. To wit, Dodge will sell a Challenger with a 375 hp Hemi V8 for around $32,995. A 455 hp Camaro SS starts at $37,995 with destination. There’s an 80 horsepower difference between the two, but Dodge also offers a 485 hp Hemi in the Challenger T/A, for just a grand more than the Chevy. Meanwhile, the newly revised 2018 Mustang GT with 460 hp starts just over $35,000.
The competition is fierce, and the V8 engines are what make the muscle car segment so captivating. So for buyers south of Hellcat, Shelby and ZL1 models, eight cylinders are the gateway into the full muscle car experience. And Chevy keeping the LT1 on a shelf higher than the others might be one reason that Camaro has slipped to the no. 3 sales spot.
“We’re looking at a lot of different options. (Getting the V8 price down) may be one way to make the middle of the market grow a bit more. The middle of the market is where we could spend a little more time,” acknowledged Christensen.
“When we had Gen. 5, we sold a lot of V6 engines. And we went into Gen. 6 kind of thinking the same way, but V8 demand has been higher than what we expected. We still sell more V6s, but now there’s something about that V8 that’s capturing hearts a little bit more.”
Probably because the performance of the Camaro SS tells anybody with a BMW M4 that they may have wasted their money. But as for the entry level, with the 2.0L LTG turbocharged four-cylinder, Christensen says they haven’t forgotten about it.
“We still need to put attention on the 2.0L. Not that we ever abandoned it, but I think there are some things we can do to improve that a little bit,” he said.
To that end, it may come down to more marketing.
“There are people that follow cars, and know all about Camaro. And then there’s a group that doesn’t pay as close of attention, and we need to be a little more proactive. We can probably do better job about selling the aspects of Camaro to those guys a little bit better.”
Reading between the lines, here’s what could actually be happening. We know that Chevrolet has been working on an updated Camaro, as evident from spy photos, likely for the 2019 model year. And Chevy appears to recognize a strong V8 demand, but not for the current price. With that, we expect some notable changes in pricing strategy, and perhaps some new trim levels, for the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro.
As for when we might see an updated Camaro, the Detroit Auto Show is next month, followed by the Chicago Auto Show in February. The Geneva Motor Show is in March, and then the season ends with the New York Auto Show in April.
New York was the show of choice to reveal the updated Gen. 5 Camaro, as well as a big surprise reveal of the Z/28. Will history repeat? Time will tell.
For further reading, check out what we think it would take for the Gen. 6 Chevy Camaro to regain the sales lead.
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The future of the Camaro lies with its ability to increase volume. Global sales and the sale of the non SS models will be key. If volumes continue to drop it will be at risk.
At the end of the day it is about return on investment and a decreasing volume is not a positive sign of this working.
The bet on selling non-SS models outside the US isn’t really paying off. Ford is seeing a similar trend with Mustang – the GT outsells the EcoBoost in Europe. The feedback is that if the buyers want something with a more practical engine, they have plenty of great options. If a European is shopping for a pony car, they want the full experience, and that means V8. The same thing might be happening here in the States.
Here is the trouble.
For the price difference it is a no brained to buy the V8.
The V6 and Tubo 4 cars are much better but they still lack the incentive to make them a more viable option.
A greater price difference. Better packaging performance packages or offer things even the SS does not have.
The GT and SS have their own identity but the smaller engine cars have little identity and no marketing.
The V6 1LE is a great car that few know about and lacks a true identity of its own.
Years ago the big block Camaro and Small Block both had their own identity and following. Today that does not happen.
Be it a significantly bigger price difference and better packaging GM needs to address these smaller engine cars.
Can they get the insurance even lower.
It may take a new platform update to address price but something has to give or we will lose the car.
You say it will never happen? Well if that is the case I have a 2006 Z/28 to sell you then.
“The V6 and Tubo 4 cars are much better” – define better.
For the performance, they’re good, but for the money, there are a lot of four cylinder performance options on the table, and all of them are more practical than a Camaro. Focus ST, GTI, WRX, even the Mustang EcoBoost…
The big block/small block Camaros may have had different personalities, but it’s important to know that neither of them had V6 engines.
Better than what GM offer in past models.
The ST is irrelevant and not anything setting the market on fire.
The GTI Is a great car but not comparable to a Camaro. FWD people and RWD. People generally do not cross over. Also the GTI has its own following just as the Camaro and Mustang and few cross over.
The WRX the same.
As for the BBC and SBC Camaros The did offer a Ione line 6. It too was often overlooked as the V8 was so little more and th e I6 was never marketed with much of a package.
The reality is they need more volume and they need to pursue all option available with markets, price and options.
While agreed that each vehicle have their own respective cults, the V6/2.0T lovers of the Camaro are dwarfed by enthusiasts of the Camaro SS.
I think you have to give more credit to the vehicles listed, and how the affect the Camaro. Because they offer similar hp and performance, despite their drivetrain layouts. Yet they offer the utility and the every-day livablility that the entry Camaros don’t have. For most, this crosses the Camaro off the list.
More marketing could help. But it would have to ignore the basic truth that there are other sporty cars out there for the money/less money that are far more practical. Square peg, round hole.
I think you give too much credit here as the cars you name are totally different.
They are what the Camaro used to be. They are all based on a small lower priced economy car that sell in much greater numbers.
The Camaro was really a Nova X body and the Mustsng was a Falcon and later a Fox body. Today that is no longer true and part of the problem.
The ST is far from a success. You may want to read Bob Lutz Column in R&T this month and he well covers the performance segment and some of the issues like we see and why they still try even in the face of failure.
The truth is the GTI and to a lesser degree are about the only real successes out there and are not rescent successes. They also survive on global sales.
Cars like the Ford RS will be gone soon as the price is just too high.
Also trucks today are taking from the red segment as do Wranglers.
The youth segment of performance is dying. Most are 30 years and older. Even if they can buy the car they can not afford the insurance.
As for performance FWD sucks over 300 HP and once you get to the AWD then the price is getting higher.
Even Toyota and Subaru RWD coupes have struggled.
The other factor in play is few people buy performance for practical. Most of us in the segment have another vehicle. I have had 2 or more good cars since I was 18. Most of my customers have a second car unless they are into trucks or Jeeps.
Ford may have lost money on the ST models, but they nailed the marketing and halo effect. They’re part of the conversation now with the hot hatch crowd, when they weren’t before. There are tons of Ford products on Woodward now, where before they would have been Subarus and Volkswagens, even if they’re second-hand models. Can’t just look at the sales figures.
Chevrolet? Absent. And will continue to be absent because they have failed to connect the dots in this space that correlates entry-level RWD with performance FWD hatchbacks.
I think you’re getting to caught up in the spec sheet, and not enough about the practical needs and wants of the buyers. The Camaro might look better, but that’s it. It could also be the same reasons doomed the Toyoburu twins (aside from just not offering what most people wanted – more power). There’s just not enough functionality for the price. Buyers in this space rarely have second cars.
The notion that “most of us in the segment have another vehicle” doesn’t seem to be true, based on the sales results of purely performance-oriented entry level RWD cars. If it is true, then they probably aren’t new cars. And if one COULD afford a second car, why would they go for a base Camaro? None of that makes sense.
Read this and I will comment later
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a13150336/the-fast-one-please-november-2017/
We read that and even reported that here. Maximum Bob admitting that sometimes it’s just a swinging contest is no surprise.
Probably why the ZL1 1LE and ZR1 exist. The point goes out the window when talking about an entry-level model.
The truth is performance in most cases is not a profit center anymore and is not a major part of marketing anymore.
Sure it hits a note with us the enthusiast but we are the minority.
There are no cheap performance cars new anymore. Even the FWD stuff is not cheap as in relation to how it was in the past.
Also FWD over 300 HP sucks as it is hard to get it to the ground. I loved my Turbo SS at 300 HP but I never could easily get it to hook up.
The Woodward ave Fords are in the heart of the Ford A plan area and is not the norm.
We sell a Ford Motorsports and one of the largest dealer of such but few call for the FWD stuff.
The truth is performance models are not profit centers and today the halo effect is mixed depending on what model and who they are selling to. Most cases they never make back the development money like the Ford GT. Sure they got some Markrting but not like GM and Chrysler has done with cars you actually see on the road in your home town.
Also a Toyota and a Honda adapted to today’s market and went to the top with little true performance models.
The fact is we the enthusiast are in the minority today in a segment I a, afraid to say is slipping away ironically while they are building some of the best road worthy performance models.
In the performance segment we have had to rethink what and how we sell things. It used to be just race parts. Today it is more truck and Jeep bolt on parts that make the high volumes vs headers and cams.
This autonomous thing is not going to take over tomorrow but it is coming and some of these systems will kill performance.
Performance will be like the Horse in the 20th century. It will be something only a few will be interested in and only as a hobby not a daily driver.
To be honest I at some point expect these automakers to look into a CUV AWD that will be given a true performance upgrade not just big wheels and black trim.
Cars as a whole are endangered. The call of the Fusion leaving the American market is a real thing and will not be the last car to vanish.
Higher transaction prices and better return on investments will bring some radical changes.
Don’t mean to be a downer but I have experienced the changes. Just look at all the companies Holley bought up. Why? Because many were going broke and sold out. Others like Pete Jackson just closed up and a Edelbrock have reorganized.
I just hope it holds up till I can retire.
Nothing is sacred out there and if it is not making money it is at risk. We even saw the Corvette set for cancellation back in the early 90’s till the manager of the program refused to follow orders.
The fact is like Bob points out it is the engineers and marketing people that have given us what we have but when you have companies like Ford at $12.58 things are going going to get tight.
I know you don’t want to hear it and most do not want to believe it but what we love is at risk.
Just check race attendance results in all series. They are all down.
We may get back to a time like in the early days if you want a special car you are going to have to make it yourself.
It hurts but slapping SS emblems on a Cruze is not going to save GM. But a better Cruze in the first place or a CUV that may have more appeal will affect the bottom line and that is what they will do.
They build cars to make money not to see who has the biggest @$&&.
The Cobalt SS was before HiPer Strut, which would have helped, as would more modern tires. A modern Cobalt SS would be a Civic Type R. And people seem to love it.
The performance cars may not have mainstream appeal as much as they used to, for a variety of reasons – getting eclipsed by all of the mobility hype might be one factor. Enthusiasts in any facet will always be a minority, but they remain opinion leaders in their circles. Friends go to them for opinions. For the analysts, this is hard to quantify. For anybody with instinct, it’s easy to to understand why enthusiasts are important.
The profit margins seem to be a factor when it comes to entry performance – but the higher-end ones are definitely making money. Ironically, the business case logic goes right out the window with EV development.
You’re otherwise going on a tangent from the original topic. Which is that the Camaro can’t make headway in base form like they were expecting, because it’s not practical enough, and it’s not V8 enough.
Was a HHR SS WITH THE GM Performance upgrade and 23 pounds of boost.
FWD performance can be fun but it is frustrating. Hyper struts would not fix the traction issue. Torque steer was not an issue just getting power to the ground was.
I could turn the traction control light on at 55 mph with Michelin Pilots.
Street driving was fine but driven hard in tight corners there is some push as the tires break lose.
With RWD you can steer with the wheel and or throttle and float it through.
Yes more expensive does make money but is that not the problem?
The profit thing goes ot on EV models as they need to grow the segment to survive in many markets as restrictions get tighter. There is no market requiring 0-60 in two seconds.
Not a tangent. The point is to keep the Camaro alive it will need to grow sales globally and in NA. The key is to make a cheaper appealing car as it once was to grow volume.
The Mustsng used to be 50% sales in a V6 and had a large number of female buyers. Now they suffer the same fate as GM with declining sales and less female appeal.
We lost this car once before and we are running the risk of it happening again unless they can grow sales in some way.
If performance cars want to spike sales, they need to fight for the major headlines. They’re going up against AVs from the same company. GM is hedging their bets…. good luck everybody!
Whoever detailed that Camaro for show needs to look for another goal in life. Cleaning cars is not his forte.
3700lb Camaro track day:
Tires – $800
Brake pads – $500
Fuel/oil – $400
Average of wear on engine and chassis – $250
2800lb Toyota 86 track day:
Tires – $400
Brake pads $200
Fuel/oil – $150
Average wear on parts – $50
And people wonder why the Demon gets better viral marketing in those straight-line non-sanctioned drags. Track-day folks who can afford the heavy prices of Camaro consumables are propbably rich enough to be brand-snobs and want a Porsh anyway.
You don’t go to the track much.
A Camaro track day is 2 grand?
Maybe in Norway.
I’m ready to be corrected and admit I’m wrong, as soon as you quote some dollar figures.
EBC pads Red Pads $210
Mobil One oil $24
Wear? Get real cars are built a little better than this.
Tires are correct if you are using the top shelf stuff street stuff. Hoosiers are cheaper
Fuel $40 seldom run a full tank of gas out
The truth is the only thing that may need attention after a day of running may be the tires as the brakes generally in good shape will it be worn out.
I sell these parts and know what they cost and how they get used up. You are way out of line here.
You are even off on the Toyota too.
I lose, y’all win, but it’s not 100%. Scott3 says I was right on tires, and that’s the biggest expense. I was off on the 86 but I don’t think I was that far off, and the big point still stands, weight=cost for track day folks.
You are right on the high end of the tires and the fact is track time uses tires. The Toyota tires are not much cheaper.
The reality is track days are not cheap on any car.
You want to save tires Autocross.
Seriously, the Prius tires on an 86 cost as much as the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar R3’s? I’ve been quoted as low as $55 for an 86 tire.
If you are doing a track day you are not going to run Prius tires unless you are an total idiot.
But i am sure there are some idiots out there that will try.
I have the ’17 Camaro V6. Let me tell you it is a fantastic car. 30+ mpg, sound great with the performance exhaust, and is a blast to drive. On top of that, 90% of people who complement me on it don’t know it’s only a v6! The only problem with it is there is the SS that’s better (except in MPG) if I had the money for it.
Great car but so anonymous.
What you experience needs to be talked about and framed in the public spectrum.
This car did a fast lap in one of the challange faster than many much more expensive cars.
Then need to give this car its own identity.
I love the look of the Camaro inside and out. Having said that, they need to fix the upper dash to soft touch materials as in almost all Chevy cars. It is embarrassing that Chevy still uses HARD plastics for almost all of their upper dash in cars.
Ford cannot hold a candle to the performance of the Camaro but they have them in interior materials hands down. Today’s customers want everything now. They do not overlook shoddy craftsmanship when spending their hard earned cash. A fully loaded Camaro is almost 80K and that is without the upcoming Z28 but the dash is hard as a rock plastic material that sounds like a plastic bucket if you knock on it. But like I said, I love the design inside out. Just spruce up the material to soft touch Chevy and take all of Chevy to Europe. GM needs to have a presence there. And for the long haul. Look at what Kia accomplished here in the States. They came in cheap and kept creeping up their game and prices. Chevy needs to do the same with Europe.
For the extreme minority who race on the twisties, sure…For the majority of people driving on public roads and go to street nights at the local drag strip, the MY18 Mustang beats the Camaro in 0-60 and quarter mile if stock…
I’m sure the MY19 Camaro will beat the MY19 Mustang, however…
What’s wrong_ Dealers won’t deal on the Camaro, even on an ordered car.
This is a common problem but is easily remedied by search previously reported deals on Camaro (or even Corvette) forums…Even then you can’t just show up in person and assume the random salesmen will give you the deal, you usually need to find the same salesperson and say “I saw YOU sold this below invoice and will buy today if you match that deal”…I know of two dealers in SoCal and one in NorCal who sell below invoice…Not sure if it’s against the rules to post them…
In the Camaro forums, during the pricing announcement lots complained how the RS package was bundled with SS1…General consensus from the haters was, many wished you could get a LS1 (cheapest trim with 18″ wheels) with a V8 and assumed that would get the price down by $5K…
I just want a Camaro, somewhere around 525-550hp, focused on the drag strip etc.
And this is what America wants…The Hellcat had a ton of demand, the Demon still has a ton of demand although you cannot even order one…
Buy a COPO then.
The top tier Chevrolet Camaro is the ZL1 1LE; but like the Corvette ZR1 sees only a handful of sales because of it’s $70+K pricetag while the base Camaro is less than half the ZL1 1LE’s price at $26K and is still a lot of fun.
There’s this idea that people seem to think that GM needs to build a cheap fast camaro! Those ideas need to go away! There should not be a cheap fast anything in this day in age. This is a privileged society and the best should only be available to a small few. A v8 camaro should be a huge step up from the v6 and I4.
If you don’t have deep pockets then you shouldn’t be able to go fast!
Remember way back in the day when you could not only get the hot v8 but a v8 just a bit milder for less $$ ?? This hasn’t been done for a long time and perhaps should be revisited. For example, why not use the L83 5.3l with say 365-395 hp as a base RS-SS engine just shy of the 400hp mark as to not encroach on the 6.2l’s territory? Gives the shade tree mechanic a place to start hot rodding a V8 with more grunt and panache than a lame sounding 4 or 6 banger. Just a thought…
People don’t work on their own cars anymore! Let’s be honest people want a cheap v8 so they can pay someone to put a S/C On it and be faster then the SS.
Translation I am to cheap to buy a real SS
People still work on their cars.
Some better than others.
My neighbor just sold a 17k mile 4th gen SS built right but still could only get $9 k.
If you know what to look for you can get some good deal. If you don’ know what to look for you can get burned.
C4 and 5 Vette with low miles can be had Cheap and there are many cheap parts you can use.
You need to subscribe to a lot more online magazines and see your wrong. There are still a whole lot of people that don’t just BUY the biggest bang, they BUILD it. Since your so cheap, I would’ve thought you knew this but my guess is your way to young to know anything about “back in the day”, driveway, or home garage mechanics.
Very few people still work and not their cars what you see in those mags are the 5% that still do it. Most people either don’t want to do it or can’t do it on their own. So they buy factory built or take their cars to a performance shop for the mods!
As for me I’ve been building cars and trucks for 30 plus years, and if you think I am cheap then you have no idea what you are taking about. People who are cheap don’t have a 1970 c10 that I have had for over 40 years that is worth north of 40k!
I think I know what I am talking about
I have driven GM products for over 50 years, had vettes, Camaros etc, now GM wants to pump smoke up America’s back side and tell us an Impala should only come with a V6, and a Camaro with s V6 is a sports car!? PEOPLE, please! I once purchased a Chevy Nova with a 350 V8 (5.7) for $3600 out the door, and V8 engines were the standard in 90 percent of ALL GM cars. Fuel is readily available and getting even more available, auto makers are building JUNK, the Japs have taken over the market, the days of purchasing a GOOD American Automobile DIED when GM and Ford stopped making V8 cars as a standard! Go buy your $36000 V6 Camaro, hope it don’t burn oill like my new Chevy Impala ltz. 3.6 V6 JUNK engine does!
I had a 2014 camaro v6 it was an oil burner from the start. Bought a 2017 a year ago I4 turbo. Screaming fast. Would blow the doors off the v6. Just miss the engine sound. I have owned multiple big block cars 396,454 ss cars.