[bturner2]

Probably moved him so he wouldn't be effected by the layoffs.

[mlee]

Originally Posted by wrankin

Agree. On the other hand, I got my strut tower signed by Al at the CamaroFest this year. Now my car will be worth a lot more.

Bill

I probably got the last signature while he was Chief.

Pretty sad news but he's left quite a legacy.

[90503]

I can't wait for Al to be sitting in (not driving) an autonomous vehicle and trying to convince himself and us that the car is awesome....lol....Not gonna happen....

This had to be a take it or leave it proposition...I hope he quits on principal and moves over to Dodge or whoever is still making real cars....

[18LTLoveIt]

Well, Nice job Al till 6th Gen refresh.

A new set of eyes CAN be a good thing for 7th Gen. Electric Pony cars?

Won't happen in our lifetime. Maybe that'll spark nostalgia for the 2005-2018 Mustangs, Challengers & Camaros in 40 yrs. The question is how plentiful will gas be & how much would it cost?

[6sigma]

Just connecting some dots here, but from this article on the C8, there are some Camaro rumors. Al might be working on the unnamed electric sports car, but this also implies a radically new Camaro.

Chevrolet will allegedly advance the Camaro in 2021 to fill the shoes left open by the C7's retirement, and that vehicle is said to be as groundbreaking as the C8 Corvette, but they declined to elaborate, stating info on that vehicle was "for another forum at another time." They also assured readers that an unnamed electric sports car on the way from GM was something that wouldn't disappoint drivers.

[Bongos2U]

Originally Posted by bturner2

Probably moved him so he wouldn't be effected by the layoffs.

It will be interesting to see how the new Camaro Chief Engineer (Mark Dickens) performs in his new job. His past credentials seem somewhat impressive (never heard of him before this).

Or maybe he will wind up as a sacrificial lamb, at the expense of "saving" Oppenheiser.

[acrace]

Originally Posted by Bongos2U

It will be interesting to see how the new Camaro Chief Engineer (Mark Dickens) performs in his new job. His past credentials seem somewhat impressive (never heard of him before this).

Or maybe he will wind up as a sacrificial lamb, at the expense of "saving" Oppenheiser.

I have a bunch of friends that have worked in Performance under or with Mark Dickens. He's good stuff and a true enthusiast. I last chatted with him at PRI two years ago; given this news, I wonder if he is at PRI this week (I'm not).

[HDRDTD]

Very sad to see Al taking a new position, however I'm not that surprised after the announcement that GM was seeking to eliminate many salaried people and lay off a huge number of other workers, etc, etc due to GM wanting to start pouring huge amounts of money at expanding/developing the electric side of the business.

It's quite possible that Al was given an option of retiring or shifting to a position on the electric side of the business?

[HDRDTD]

Marks got some HUGE shoes to fill.

Good luck Al, we're still with you.

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Doc

Boy this one's hard to read. There's no question that corporate is watching the sales trend for the Camaro, so what does this mean? It doesn't sound like Al was seeking this position; sounds more like they said "you're going over here now". Does that mean they think they need new blood in the Camaro program to revitalize it? Al is an engineer, not a designer, and he did his job giving the Camaro class-leading performance.

Mark Dickens being the "...current executive director of Performance Variants, Parts, Accessories, and Motorsports Engineering" sounds more like he's involved with the way things look on the outside.

He was involved in go-fast things as well as look-good things.

Originally Posted by Doc

Considering that the 7th gen is probably already designed and sitting in a studio room somewhere, GM may not like what they're looking at and are either bringing in this guy to help redesign the appearance, or GM is making the decision that the Camaro is on its way out and this guy is the caretaker to oversee that.

Vehicle Chief Engineers have very limited involvement in vehicle exterior design beyond saying “I prefer Sketch F over Sketch D” and weighing in on some basic design elements. Engineers engineer, Designers design.

Originally Posted by Doc

Their statement "We have launched the final variant of this generation of Camaro, so the time is right" is hard to read other than the Gen 6 is done. Not a word about a Gen 7. Nothing like "We're exciting about the next generation Camaro" or anything like that. They even made a specific point of saying that moving Al to EV doesn't mean they're planning on making an EV Camaro or a similar "performance-focused" EV (yet he says they aren't ruling that out).

Other than Johan de Nysschen, I have never seen GM execs openly describe, or even acknowledge, the existence of any future product. Try asking Tadge Juecther anything about a ME Corvette. He has perfected the blank stare followed by “what are talking about?”

Originally Posted by Doc

What this tells me is they're not blaming Al for the decline in Camaro sales, which is good for Al, but what does it mean for the Camaro? If they WERE actually planning an an EV Camaro, bringing Al over now means it'll be years before we see something.

The only way Al would be blamed for Camaro sales would be if the low sales were attributed to Camaro not meeting its performance or fuel economy goals (it meets both) or if there was a demonstrable engineering flaw that tanked the brand. That didn’t happen. The 6th Gen won enough awards and magazine covers to place Al in very good standing with GM leadership. If there is an electrified Camaro coming anytime soon, I can assure you development would not have waited for Al to show up. It could potentially take a bend in direction based on what he chooses to focus on, but he would not be starting with a blank sheet of paper.

Originally Posted by Doc

Gen 6 is done, so what's next, and when?

Good things I hope. And hopefully around 2021 - 22.

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by bobby35ny

Good Riddance!
I don't think a word of truth ever came out of his mouth.

Although this is going to sound useless without citing specifics, I do recall a lot of times he was wrong about things or deflected. I didn't personally understand the hero worship behind him.

When he became the chief engineer in 2007, the 5th gen was already well into its development and was a nearly guaranteed success. I can't say I agree with where things have gone with the 6th gen for the most part and could see the benefit in a new person leading future efforts at this point. While Al always consistently said he viewed the 6th gen as a success, I'd like to see more Camaros on the road and more interest for it outside of enthusiast communities like Camaro6.

If you recall, a few weeks ago, the GM performance division seemed to be pretty bullish about fixing the 6th gen refresh by removing the bumper blackout, in contrast to what was likely pressure from above to keep the corporate face. If this was Mark's work, I think good things will come. It shows he isn't scared to make the Camaro stand out from the rest of the product portfolio.

[DrkPhx]

Originally Posted by 6sigma

Just connecting some dots here, but from this article on the C8, there are some Camaro rumors. Al might be working on the unnamed electric sports car, but this also implies a radically new Camaro.

Chevrolet will allegedly advance the Camaro in 2021 to fill the shoes left open by the C7's retirement, and that vehicle is said to be as groundbreaking as the C8 Corvette, but they declined to elaborate, stating info on that vehicle was "for another forum at another time." They also assured readers that an unnamed electric sports car on the way from GM was something that wouldn't disappoint drivers.

Definitely an interesting read. Time will tell if it's true. The part you mention is below and certainly gives me hope on the upcoming 7th gen. The 5th and 6th gen are great cars in their respective ways but performance aside, the Camaro desperately needs a makeover, so this is hopefully a good thing with new blood coming in. Of the 3 current pony cars; the Camaro tips it hat the least when it comes to it's heritage which I think has caused a large disconnect with Camaro owners other than those that have a 6th gen. I'm not talking retro styling.

Interestingly, a mid engine Corvette makes space for the 7th gen Camaro to slip into the C7’s current segment in 2021, at current Camaro prices. The 2021 Camaro will be as revolutionary as the C8 but that’s for another forum at another time.

[Indydriver]

It’s the end of Camaro.

[01pewterz28]

Good luck Al in your new roll I am sure the 7th Gen has already been set as for the design and performance.