[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

"Soon" has to be defined. Since they just refreshed the car for 2019, it has at least a couple years of life left as far as the 6th gen goes. Beyond that, there's no sign a 7th gen is in the works. As Al O departed, all he generally told the community was to "spread the word" for the existing car, he said nothing of future plans. I would say it's highly possible that GM hasn't even decided what they want to do yet, but they'll need to figure it out in the coming months. They'd need to start work very soon since vehicle development takes years.

A general guideline with GM, and pretty much most major automakers as far as I can tell, is by the time a new vehicle hits the streets, the product development team is already working on the refresh or next gen. So expect that work is already in motion and that Mark Dickens is leading it.

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

With the C8 Corvette delayed due to electrical harness issues, it's possible that it delayed work on a 7th gen Camaro. Whatever work they have done on the 7th gen, if any, would be pretty early since we've gotten no leaks at all, and it's likely in a stage of planning where they could safely pull the plug and consider it an more minor R&D loss for any work they did (again, if any.)

The people working on the C8 electrical and the mainstream product development for a Camaro7 would not be the same people. The workloads would not overlap, so there would be no timing impact of one onto the other.

The way the planning processes work, even though the product development team is working on defining the next gen, the “Go / No Go” decision is not made for another year - year and a half. You aren’t going to see any leaks because there’s nothing concrete to leak. Competing sketches of what could be with no decisions made yet....competing proposals for engine / transmission options with no decisions made yet. The most you’d get is “here’s what somebody is thinking about”. If someone had leaked 6 years ago that “GM is considering making a hybrid Camaro” it would not have been wrong. It didn’t happen, obviously, but because it was one of many ideas that came to the table it could have been leaked, and it would not have been wrong to say it was being considered.

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

Some people jumped on the electric COPO as a sign that GM is designing a 7th gen. I would argue it's just a design study in electric drivetrains for performance cars. They could use it in anything. Whatever that car would be, a Camaro or otherwise, I would assume the 6th gen will be long out of production by the time it comes out.

Exactly

Originally Posted by V80Camaro

I believe Camaro and Corvette are being developed together as a duo, to perfectly complement each other.
With the C8 being rear-mid engine (and potentially AWD?), the Camaro will take the place of the Corvette C7 as the front-mid engine RWD sport car.

There is a lot of overlap in people working on both programs. Makes sense because a lot of the sub-systems are same or similar (engines, brake systems, cooling protocol, etc). I wouldn’t expect the market segments to overlap much if at all and I wouldn’t expect a wholesale shift of the Camaro upmarket to “fill a gap” left by C8. Keep in mind Al O. was very concerned about losing the lower cost part of the market to Mustang. Mustang ranges from low $20k to $80k and GT500 may push that towards $90k. Camaro ranges from mid $20k to about $75k. There’s still room to move upward and still maintain its segment position. C8 will cost minimally more than C7 of similar trim levels and it has yet to be totally understood if C7 and C8 will coexist for any significant amount of time. Might happen. Might not.

[hotlap]

Martin -

IIRC, we saw the first gen6 Camaro test cars in the fall of 2014. Cadillac revealed the 2014 CTS in April 2013 and started production fall 2013 for MY 2014

If CT5 is revealed April 2019 for MY 2020, shouldn’t we see gen7 Camaro test cars this summer or fall?

If sales are slumping and GM is committed to Alpha2 cars (CT5, CT4, Camaro), I would expect them to accelerate getting the next cars to market. Not delay.

[Orangeman13]

Someone mentioned that Toyota was bringing back 3 sports cars. I know about the supra but what other coupes are they bringing back?

[LateBrakeU2]

Originally Posted by hotlap

I would imagine that they began working on the gen7 Camaro after the launch of the 2016 in the fall of 2015.

- GM has updated the Alpha platform to Alpha 2.
- We have seen camouflage CT5 test cars ....the CTS replacement
- CTS/ATS volume has been so low that LGR plant really needs the Camaro volume to remain feasible. Production of the three car together totaled 71,959 units ...Camaro equals 70.8%!

Attachment 970430
Attachment 970431
Attachment 970432

All that’s said, GM could pull the plug on the North American Cadillac CTx production and just build it in China like the CT6. Kill Camaro.

If we don’t see test gen7 Camaro’s in the next six months, I think it’s canceled and GM is surrendering a 193,521 (2018) unit segment to its rivals instead of competing for it.

From a friend on the inside, refresh on the gen 7 has been placed on indefinite hold,no new product indentified for Lansing Grand River assy plant. after 2022.

Adapt or perish..
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-en...ic-car-mandate

[Glen e]

good thread...I personally cant see a green light from the board to make a new gen camaro. Market conditions suck for muscle cars, Younger gens dont care about sedans or musvle cars and they are gonna need all their development money for the transition to electric.

lets hope Im very wrong.....

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by hotlap

Martin -

IIRC, we saw the first gen6 Camaro test cars in the fall of 2014. Cadillac revealed the 2014 CTS in April 2013 and started production fall 2013 for MY 2014

If CT5 is revealed April 2019 for MY 2020, shouldn’t we see gen7 Camaro test cars this summer or fall?

If sales are slumping and GM is committed to Alpha2 cars (CT5, CT4, Camaro), I would expect them to accelerate getting the next cars to market. Not delay.

Makes sense. Malibu has been “short-cycled” twice. But I think in both cases it was pulling ahead the mid-cycle, which is not as involved as pulling ahead a next gen architecture. Depends on

1. Will Camaro be off “Alpha II” or carry-over “Alpha I”?
2. How significant a change is it from Alpha I to Alpha II?

[Orangeman13]

Is this legit?

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/08/...he-fbodfather/

[Zack46]

Originally Posted by Orangeman13

Is this legit?

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/08/...he-fbodfather/

Don't know...Hmmm...If it is true, I wish Al Op was still working on the camaro. I trust his camaro expertise and really enjoyed his passion for the car when he would show up at car shows to discuss everything camaro...

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Orangeman13

Is this legit?

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/08/...he-fbodfather/

It’s complicated. [Bill Clinton voice] It depends on what the definition of “working on” is [/Bill Clinton voice].

By the time the 5th Gen refresh became visible publicly (early 2013) work would have already been started on 6th Gen (2016 MY) and, to a lesser degree, 6th Gen refresh (2019 MY). The plan is usually to get at least two product runs off of an architecture. For 5th Gen (Zeta platform) that was 2010-13 plus a mid-cycle refresh for 2014-15. For 6th Gen (Alpha platform) that would be 2016 - 18 with a mid-cycle refresh for 2019-2? So, by the time 6th Gen refresh became visible publicly (early 2018) work would have already begun on the 7th Gen platform, including identifying some potential considerations for the mid-cycle refresh.

Since fuel economy and emissions regulations are sorta known through 2025, GM as a whole has an idea what each vehicle product line needs to contribute to meeting those goals and most product teams have an idea of what technologies they need to be working on integrating into their vehicles.

So, if “working on” means knowing what the fender lines look like and what the headlamp and taillight appearance and technology will be....no. If “working on” means there is a no foolin’, committed, ain’t gonna change commitment to building a particular car at a particular plant at a specific volume range....no. If “workin’ on” means defining the basic geometry elements of length, wheelbase, track, roof configurations, seating configurations, mass targets, initial proposals of powertrain combinations and electrification strategies....yes, that work has started and will continue until and unless someone really important (Barra, Reuss, VP of Planning) says stop.

[V8 Firebird]

Originally Posted by Orangeman13

Someone mentioned that Toyota was bringing back 3 sports cars. I know about the supra but what other coupes are they bringing back?

Celica and MR-2. They work with Mazda to develop the car.

[Orangeman13]

Originally Posted by V8 Firebird

Celica and MR-2. They work with Mazda to develop the car.

The Toyota Celica is coming back out?!

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Orangeman13

Someone mentioned that Toyota was bringing back 3 sports cars. I know about the supra but what other coupes are they bringing back?

Not so much “bringing back” specific vehicles, but Toyota’s portfolio for North America will include 3 sports cars for the first time in a long time.

1. Toyota 86 (Subaru BRZ)
2. Toyota Supra (BMW Z4)
3. Lexus RC

Both the Supra and the RC-F will be introduced at NAIAS in Detroit next Monday. I’ll be at the press conferences.

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by V8 Firebird

Celica and MR-2. They work with Mazda to develop the car.

Those are just rumors at this point. Unless I’ve missed something (very much possible) there are not enough data points to connect the dots and say they are real projects. I’ll ask around at the Toyota press event at NAIAS and see if there’s any new info.

[Orangeman13]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Not so much “bringing back” specific vehicles, but Toyota’s portfolio for North America will include 3 sports cars for the first time in a long time.

1. Toyota 86 (Subaru BRZ)
2. Toyota Supra (BMW Z4)
3. Lexus RC

Both the Supra and the RC-F will be introduced at NAIAS in Detroit next Monday. I’ll be at the press conferences.

Do you think the Celica would be brought back in your opinion?