No way, dude. The Camaro is forever.
Posted on 05/16/2008 1:18:43 PM PDT by XR7
Motorheads don’t want to hear it; refuse to believe it — but ugly realities are coming down hard on the ‘09 Camaro that will very possibly cause GM to pull the plug before the first one ever rolls off the line.
Doubt that? Consider the stillborn rear-wheel-drive next generation Chevy Impala — nixed because of concerns within GM about the possibility of meeting the pending (2012) 35 mpg fuel economy edict recently passed by Congress. A lighter front-drive car with a V-6 instead of a V-8 can make the cut; a V-8 RWD Impala can’t. So it’s gone. So is the talked-about next generation GTO. And the future of the G8 sedan looks not so good. GM is openly talking about scaling back the entire Pontiac division — and ending its role as a performance brand.
No bull; not my opinion. Just facts.
Now consider the 2009 Camaro — and the world in which it will have to swim. Gas prices are already surging toward $4 per gallon for regular unleaded. And Camaro’s not even here yet. By the time the car reaches production status in about eight months or so, we may very well be at $5 per gallon.
Maybe more.
At the same time, the buying power of the dollar is falling down the well — so everything is becoming more expensive, not just gas. And most of us are not making more money to compensate. Quite the opposite. Inflation and income stagnation are hitting us hard. Those of us who still have jobs and have been able to maintain the same income we had a year or so ago are few, thankful — and nervous. Buying a new car is not on our agenda. And buying a frivolous new car even less so. Camaro is not an exotic; it is a "Joe Sixpack" kind of car — so middle class and working class buyer skittishness is no small thing.
GM is well aware of these facts — which are going to kneecap Camaro (and any car like it) on the consumer level. Whatever the projected sales potential was two years ago should probably be cut in half. Bet your bippie that the bean counters within GM have thought about this, too.
That’s bad enough — and by itself could be sufficient to make going ahead with Camaro in 2009 about as sensible as building something like a Series 62 Cadillac would have been in 1979.
But wait, there’s more. Don’t forget the 10,000 pound Tallboy bomb that’s about to fall onto GM’s head (and ours) in the form of the 35 mpg CAFE edict. That changes … everything. The recession, crippling gas prices and declining buying power of the dollar are merely the coupe de grace.
A V-6 Camaro could maybe meet the current 27.5 mpg CAFE requirement for passenger cars without major engineering changes/expenses or hitting buyers with a "gas guzzler" surcharge that would bump the purchase price of the car up by $1,000 or more.
But 35 mpg? Only a few four-cylinder economy compacts and hybrids make it under that bar. Anything much over about 3,200 pounds with an engine larger than 3 liters is getting iffy. With a 300-plus hp V-8 engine and rear-wheel-drive?
Forget it.
Don’t believe it? Chew on this:
The current Ford Mustang GT — a car very similar in layout/power and so on to the pending ‘09 Camaro — manages just 17 mpg in city driving and 26 mpg on the highway. That’s with the 4 liter V-6 engine, by the way. The GT’s 4.6 liter V-8 (300 hp) slurps it down at the rate of 15 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. To survive 35 mpg CAFE, the V-8 Mustang GT would have to somehow nearly double its current average fuel economy. How is this going to be achieved, exactly? Think Ford is worried about the Mustang’s viability?
You’d better believe it.
The new Dodge Challenger is in even worse shape, CAFE wise. Its wonderful 6.1 liter V-8 won’t last long in this world, given city mileage of 13 mpg — and highway mileage that isn’t even out of the teens (18 mpg). Yes, a V-6 version is coming, but the most efficient engines of this size/type that Chrysler has available - like Ford — don’t come close to delivering 35 mpg.
Camaro’s in the same pickle. Neither the base V-6 version nor the high-powered V-8 model have a prayer of achieving CAFE compliance. If they’re produced, buyers will be facing huge "gas guzzler" surcharges that will only add to the growing roster of negatives arguing against making a purchase — from $75 fill-ups to the general uselessness of cars of these type, beyond their ability to provide a good time.
And here’s the deal: Chrysler’s already on the hook; the commitment to production has been made. It will have to at least try to make a go of it. For awhile. Ford has a strong buyer base for the Mustang; a case can be made that even with gas guzzler fees and generally awful times, economically speaking, it’s worth trying to hold the line — at least, for the moment.
But Camaro?
GM no longer has a sure bet buyer base; the name has been out of circulation for almost seven years now. That is a long time, regardless of other external issues, such as gas prices. Rebuilding a brand/make of car is tough in the best of times. In bad times, it is a fool’s errand. And it’s a luxury that cash-strapped, no longer number one GM cannot afford to indulge. If Camaro sinks — as all signs indicate it will — GM will lose a ton of money. Remember that unlike Challenger (which is "spun off" the existing Charger sedan) GM has had to invest a great deal in what amounts to a brand-new platform/tooling and so on to make this happen. Big sales are needed to make it up. It increasingly looks as though that is extremely unlikely to happen.
Which is why GM may just abort the whole thing before it ever sees the light of day.
You wait and see.
More "government is our friend" stuff like this, and we'll be well on our way to third-worldism.
If the Democrats have their way we’ll all be in rickshaws by 2025.
Trabants here we come.
I think Chevrolet should simply come out with a fairly conventional but lightweight 9/10 scale replica of a ‘57 Chevy (Maybe with a hottish V-4) and I think it would sell. Not a solution to anything, just a car folks would buy.
Thank the ‘Rats & Rino’s for CAFE and the demise of classic American Road Car.
Don’t worry. We will all have our bicycles and and old mopeds for transport soon enough. No worries. The government knows best.
Word to the wise.
Get into the laminated playing-cards-in-spokes aftermarket add-on biz now!
You do realize that sooner or later muscle cars would go the way of the dinosaur anyway-—right? It’s the height of stupidity to pay so much money just to be able to go 0 to 60 in 4 seconds.
I used to have a 1966 GTO with a 6.5 liter (389 CID) V8 and a carburetor, and it got this kind of mileage or better. What gives?
Ford and GM should make 2.0 liter versions of the Mustangs and Camaros and then have upscale versions with V-6 and V-8’s........
Except most of the old mopeds will have to be pulled when the ban on two-stroke engines comes into effect.
muscle cars are part of american culture
does anyone really NEED any car? a fully automatic rifle? a glock with a 50 round drum mag? a motorcycle capable of 200mph? an 8 bedroom house? an SUV with room for 9? all the DVDs, VHSs, books, magazines, knick knacks, pictures, etc cluttering our houses?
for 99% of the people that own any of these things, and a million others like them, there is no NEED to own them. we own them because we like them and because we CAN.
Our own government is going to kill the American auto industry.
...”Those of us who still have jobs and have been able to maintain the same income we had a year or so ago are few, thankful — and nervous.”...
Huh? The unemployment rate is 5% - near-total employment traditionally. What is this putz talking about? Gasoline at $5/gal would go a long way toward forcing conservation - a good thing in itself.
Intervention by a democrat congress and President in the business of the oil companies would be disastrous and un-American. Exactly what one would expect from the democrat party.
“I used to have a 1966 GTO with a 6.5 liter (389 CID) V8 and a carburetor, and it got this kind of mileage or better.”
Remembers friend who bought a new 66 with the 3x2 carb setup. Gave me keys for test ride. Went through the gears from a standstill and returned the keys with trembling knees. What a beast.
But, you see, it doesn't matter what you or I want to buy. The government gets to decide that for us.
Those Tri-Power equipped GTOs would jump and shout, for sure!
Mine had the 4-barrel, but it still went pretty good.
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