[hfur]

hmmm..........

[hfur]

No one is buying the Camaro and right now, it is on pace to have its worst year ever. Coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, it is all-but-guaranteed that 2020 will be the worst sales year in the history of the fabled Chevy muscle car.
Annual Sales Nightmare
Chevrolet averaged 2,379 Camaros sold each month during the first quarter of 2020. If you multiply that number by 12, you get a total of 28,548 units. Based on the current rate, Chevrolet is on pace to sell 28,548 Camaros this year, but that number is likely a high estimate. With production stoppages and many dealerships being closed, sales numbers for April are sure to be some of the worst in the history of the American auto industry. We are likely to see the average sales number drop, so the Camaro may fall short of the poor current projections.
Prior to 2020, the worst sales year for the Camaro came in 2001, when just 29,009 examples of the Chevy muscle car were sold. After that, the next-worst year was in 1990, when just 34,986 Camaros were sold. Unless there is some remarkable turnaround, the Camaro likely wont reach those previous record lows, so 2020 is likely to be the worst sales year for the Chevy muscle car ever.
Along similar lines, 2020 is going to be the worst year ever for General Motors’ rear-drive performance icons as a group. Back in 2001, when Chevy only sold 29,009 Camaros, Pontiac also sold 25,743 Firebirds. There were also 33,655 Corvettes sold in 2001, so the Camaro, Firebird and Corvette combined for 88,407 units sold in that year.
The Firebird is gone, the Camaro is on pace to move less than 29,000 units for the first time ever and the Corvette is currently on pace for about 15,280 units during this calendar year. Granted, once production is back underway at American facilities, we are likely to see Corvette numbers grow quickly as the company works hard to satisfy all of the orders for the new mid-engine C8, but Covid-19 is likely to make sure that 2020 is the worst year ever for GM’s performance legends.

[396ssrat]

If you build what the customer want's they will show up. When a manufacturer tries to tell you what you want they will kill a brand. If Dodge can do it with a dinosaur challenger, Chevy should see why they are doing it.

[BG2112]

Do you think the ability to get the 1LE package in an automatic will help with those numbers?

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by BG2112

Do you think the ability to get the 1LE package in an automatic will help with those numbers?

I doubt it, personally I would be more curious to see how the new LT1 trim does(which some said on the forum that it's not doing as well as one would think).

Remember that not a lot of people are track rats who'd pay for the premium of a Camaro with 1LE package.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

Remember that not a lot of people are track rats who'd pay for the premium of a Camaro with 1LE package.

But they look so good!!

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

But they look so good!!

Still, it's quite a bit of extra money if you are treating the 1LE package as an aesthetics package.

I love mine aesthetically, and today I learned how capable it can be on tracks, but I would feel guilty for never bringing a 1LE to a track or Autocross.

[triggerjerk]

No ads.
No incentives.
No inventory.
No sales.

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by triggerjerk

No ads.
No incentives.
No inventory.
No sales.

I think someone on the forum said before that there is no right ad(or incentive/inventory) for the wrong car.

Everyone here obviously loves Camaros but it's got some practicality issues that can turn average buyers away.

[Venomcustom]

I did my part and bought a new SS 1LE last month.

[closs2sx]

Hate to say this but if the camaro ss 1le and Zl1 1le didn’t handle as good as they do (I own both) and dodge or ford put a manual in the red eye or the gt500 this die hard gm guy would not own a camaro. I have had to modify and give up my warranty to be satisfied with power for the camaros. If I could buy an exotic with the hp level I desire with a manual for 300k or less I would but I can’t and I’m not willing to void a warranty to make an exotic fast when it should be fast to begin with for the price. When gm realizes that 650 hp is old news and 455 is way too little for the ss and puts the ss at 550 or more and the zl1 at 800 or more they will sell a lot more

[Thill444]

Well there are several things at play here:
I just bought an SS1LE in the New England area last month and there was very little inventory on the lots. Searching all of New England I found maybe 5 cars total across like 7 states amd several of those cars were in transit.

COVID is a huge factor in this as production was shutdown for months and I am not sure if they are back to full production, but I know in the case of the C8 they just got back to two shifts per day, but there are still shipping and supply delays happening.

This is why the used Camaro market (and really all used cars) are in such high demand and have such high prices.

But if we take inventory out of the equation, and COVID, and the economy and everything else, yeah the 6th gen Camaro has been out awhile now and GM has fumbled the ball on the refreshes.

The LT1 is a great option, and probably something they should have done in the beginning.

I do think there are impracticalities with the 6th Gen that have hurt sales, but GM also packaged the car in such a way that it simply cost more. GM has held back on deep incentives whereas Dodge and Ford have been more aggressive, but from a business standpoint do you want to built more cars with lower profit margins, or fewer cars with higher profit margins?

[L78toLT1]

When gm realizes that 650 hp is old news and 455 is way too little for the ss and puts the ss at 550 or more and the zl1 at 800 or more they will sell a lot more[/QUOTE]

I really don't think it's the hp. Ford and Dodge certainly seem to be able to move the lesser model Challengers and Mustangs. I don't think it's the advertising either. The Camaro is a niche vehicle that's just not very as a daily driver. I love mine, but will have to admit that I'd prefer a Challenger, Charger, or even a Mustang as a daily.

[LT4Greg]

My idea is if you are wanting a Camaro and you find a new one that has most of all of the options you are looking for and if it’s in your budget or finances, then go get it before GM pulls the plug on Camaro production. It’s possible that the bean counters at GM might do this because of the low sales and of course the pandemic shutdowns haven’t helped the situation either. It really wouldn’t surprise me if GM announced the end of Camaro production in 2021 instead of 2023.