[396ssrat]

It isn't the Chevrolet fanboy that the advertising needs to target. It is giving the
respective "other" buyer a reason to buy the Camaro. Styling is everything aside from pricing.

[nitrojedi]

All I know is the new 2019 LT's look gross compared to the 2018's they replace..look like something Disney came up with for a cartoon... I am baffled that someone allowed these changes to take place and still kept their jobs, unless there was a direct intent to ruin the looks so bad that sales tanked and gave grounds to cancel the Camaro...They are so ugly its ridiculous !

[396ssrat]

I thought when the Camaro returned after it's hiatus all those years that they made the correct choice by NOT going retro like the Mustang and Challenger because they wouldn't be locked in to a particular short lived design. It appears that based on sales of late that I might have been wrong. It is the retro styles with subtle changes that are selling and the new Camaro design is the underling. In my opinion the 2019 may be the nail in the coffin. They need to go to plan "B" in a hurry.

[rontammy0]

Originally Posted by 396ssrat

I thought when the Camaro returned after it's hiatus all those years that they made the correct choice by NOT going retro like the Mustang and Challenger because they wouldn't be locked in to a particular short lived design. It appears that based on sales of late that I might have been wrong. It is the retro styles with subtle changes that are selling and the new Camaro design is the underling. In my opinion the 2019 may be the nail in the coffin. They need to go to plan "B" in a hurry.

Other then this forum....people see the styling as a major drawback. Is it terrible no....its just not much of anything. Mix in a little 5th gen style with some 6th gen engineering and thank me later.

[rontammy0]

Originally Posted by hotlap

Guys are sharing real world observations about GM marketing and you dismiss them. “We” are professionals with data.

Your wife’s experience as brand manager with Corvette? ...one of the cars you just told us needs no marketing?

It also doesn’t help that you are not a Camaro fan. You’ve never owned one and your vision of the perfect coupe doesn’t fit what a Camaro is. That’s not saying that you don’t have valid points or that I wouldn’t buy the car you described. The slammed roof, high belt, shitty trunk lift over were needless misses but you described a two door Chevy SS. Big ass coupe with a V8

You don’t like the gen6. You act like it would have been a consideration had it not been so flawed even though we both know you’d never buy a Camaro. You come across like you hope it gets canceled so you can say you were right. “Marketing was fine...the product sucked.”

I make a point to look for Camaro marketing ads. . I haven't seen any. Gm is at an all time low in promoting vehicles ..except trucks. Maybe GM should give the Camaro forum members a shot to come up with some ideas for the Camaro. I think we can do better then their current marketing group.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by rontammy0

Other then this forum....people see the styling as a major drawback. Is it terrible no....its just not much of anything. Mix in a little 5th gen style with some 6th gen engineering and thank me later.

Supposedly the 1st gen F-body was the original inspiration for the 5th gen, but the evolution from inspiration to production was taken a bit too far, too close to the sort of extreme more associated with concept-cars. Even the 5th gen had a much "thicker-bodied" look than its ancestor. It's easier for most people to appreciate concept car styling when they don't have to live with all the other consequences on a day-to-day basis.

A slightly lower beltline and a little more greenhouse might be the direction that the Camaro's future evolution needs to start with. As with the Corvette (and Mustang and Challenger, for that matter) it will need to remain immediately recognizable as a Camaro.


Norm

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by 396ssrat

I thought when the Camaro returned after it's hiatus all those years that they made the correct choice by NOT going retro like the Mustang and Challenger because they wouldn't be locked in to a particular short lived design. It appears that based on sales of late that I might have been wrong. It is the retro styles with subtle changes that are selling and the new Camaro design is the underling. In my opinion the 2019 may be the nail in the coffin. They need to go to plan "B" in a hurry.

It's funny you say not retro. I personally see it as a retro design, or at least heavily retro inspired. I bet the majority of the public see it as "retro" as well

[redcoats1976]

i love the styling of my 5th gen.6th gen from 2016-18 looks good too.just sayin...

[NW-99SS]

Originally Posted by 396ssrat

It isn't the Chevrolet fanboy that the advertising needs to target. It is giving the
respective "other" buyer a reason to buy the Camaro. Styling is everything aside from pricing.

1000% this

[396ssrat]

Originally Posted by shaffe

It's funny you say not retro. I personally see it as a retro design, or at least heavily retro inspired. I bet the majority of the public see it as "retro" as well

Hardly from my perspective. Take a good hard look at what is selling and you will see retro. The high belt line and the squished headroom ain't retro at all. Sales numbers tell the tale. Like I said before I thought they might have room to improve but they've backed themselves into a corner here. It's a very capable car but styling sells the cars.

[Quinten_33]

Does GM have to advertise the Camaro through TV commercials, social media ads/commercials, or any other form of direct advertising? How many people watching ESPN at noon on a Tuesday are going to see a quick ad featuring a Camaro and think to themselves “I should check one of those out...”? How many of those people can afford and live with a two-door performance car? And of those, how many (keep in mind it’s 1:30 on a Tuesday) would really have the need to get a new car? And of those who are looking for a new car, how many people will pick the Camaro over one of the other dozen performance vehicles within their budget?

Instead, GM should try advertising the Camaro in places where people who want cars like the Camaro would see it. How about in a racing series? You know- things like IMSA sports car racing or some NASCAR series. They should promote it by posting pictures and cool stats of the Camaro on social media, and have cool videos of Camaros setting fast laps at famous racetracks. Better yet, they should give major publications like Motor Trend, Road and Track, and Car and Driver all of the different Camaros so those publications can write reviews about them and feature them in comparisons and competitions. It’s a shame that they don’t have press events for the new Camaros. It’d be cool if guys like Randy Pobst could take a new ZL1 1LE out for a spin and do something crazy like beat the Camaro suspension engineer’s laptime... And why hasn’t someone thought of having a Camaro as the Indy 500 pace car yet???

Yeah, advertising is 100% of the Camaro’s problems. They can’t afford to lose sales to the Mustang and Challenger, as having less sales means that the car is much worse! I mean, it’s not like there goal was to make the best-performing car in its class or anything, so they definitely are failing.

Get your Camaros while you can, because they won’t be around much longer... LOL

[Norm Peterson]

Of course they need to be a little selective about where/when/how often they advertise. But it still has to happen. Essentially relying on word-of-mouth obviously isn't enough.


Norm

[pyroguy]

Is Chevrolet killing the Camaro? It depends on your definition of killing. If by killing you mean killing it off/discontinuing it, no. Not to my knowledge or opinion anyway. If by killing you mean ruining, then yes. 6th gen skyrocketing in price compared to 5th gen, 2019 refresh failure, electric engine concept and assumed to be eventual power train are all contributing factors to the demise of the Camaro IMO.

I realize that new technology combined with inflation causes vehicle prices to go up. However, my fully loaded minus a sunroof 2SS/RS 2010 Camaro cost around $38k new. A similarly equipped 2016 2SS Camaro cost about $48k-$50k new. That's an insane jump, not to mention pricing themselves out of most people's reach. A Mustang of similar equipment, while under performing the Camaro was about $38k-$40k. You can add A LOT of mods for $10k that will make the Mustang a real competitor.

The 2019 refresh has been beaten to death, but the fact that GM is making mid year retooling changes just goes to show how big of a flop their design was.

As for the electric Camaro concept and assumed eventual implementation, I think that is a bad move for Camaro. Camaro has been known as a muscle car that is a gas guzzling, cam thumping, supercharger whining, pavement pounder. No offense to V6 of the new 4 cylinder turbo owners, but when most people think Camaro they think of a V8 as described. To change the power plant to a noiseless electric motor that the only sound it makes is the tires against the road is rather insulting to the name. I think that making an electric Camaro is a mistake. I've said it before and I'll say it again, come out with a car with Camaro heritage and call it the Chevrolet Panther. The tag line would be "A new kind of muscle for a new kind of muscle car." It would sell like crazy and the Panther is the originally intended name for the Camaro back in 1966. Let the Camaro live it's glory days as a vehicle with an internal combustion engine and if it does end up fading into the woodwork then let it go with style. I think that putting an electric engine in it would turn off far too many enthusiasts.

[SteevK]

Originally Posted by Quinten_33

Does GM have to advertise the Camaro through TV commercials, social media ads/commercials, or any other form of direct advertising? How many people watching ESPN at noon on a Tuesday are going to see a quick ad featuring a Camaro and think to themselves “I should check one of those out...”? How many of those people can afford and live with a two-door performance car? And of those, how many (keep in mind it’s 1:30 on a Tuesday) would really have the need to get a new car? And of those who are looking for a new car, how many people will pick the Camaro over one of the other dozen performance vehicles within their budget?

Instead, GM should try advertising the Camaro in places where people who want cars like the Camaro would see it. How about in a racing series? You know- things like IMSA sports car racing or some NASCAR series. They should promote it by posting pictures and cool stats of the Camaro on social media, and have cool videos of Camaros setting fast laps at famous racetracks. Better yet, they should give major publications like Motor Trend, Road and Track, and Car and Driver all of the different Camaros so those publications can write reviews about them and feature them in comparisons and competitions. It’s a shame that they don’t have press events for the new Camaros. It’d be cool if guys like Randy Pobst could take a new ZL1 1LE out for a spin and do something crazy like beat the Camaro suspension engineer’s laptime... And why hasn’t someone thought of having a Camaro as the Indy 500 pace car yet???

Yeah, advertising is 100% of the Camaro’s problems. They can’t afford to lose sales to the Mustang and Challenger, as having less sales means that the car is much worse! I mean, it’s not like there goal was to make the best-performing car in its class or anything, so they definitely are failing.

Get your Camaros while you can, because they won’t be around much longer... LOL

Car magazines, IMO, provide the purest demographic for enthusiast messaging. I found out about my first gen3 Camaro - and subsequent service visits provided time to browse the new iron on the lot. Likewise, my Buick GN was touted/tested as the quickest 1986 U.S. car sold - found out the drivetrain was GREAT, rest of car was crap. Bought my 2nd IROC-Z when GN was stolen and wrapped around a pole in the rain, AFTER I had a Rancho susp kit installed and tuned.

Found out about Eclipse GSX (which led me to buy 3 more - 1 was a Talon) in mags, likewise G35 (which led to G37) - Hell, I even read about my first '67 442 (leading to 2 more) in the stacks of MT my auto shop teacher kept for when he was late...

Anyway, I first heard about 6th gen Camaro from mags - in the past few years, very few MT, R&T, C&D issues without a Camaro test/comparo - Camaro ZL1 Vs M4, 2SS ILE Vs M2 Comp, Camaro Vs AMG, 2SS ILE Vs Audi RS3, countless Camaro Vs Mustang, sometimes Vs Challenger... These mags have tested/compared every variant, including "Who needs a V8?" stories about V6 & T4 Camaros & Mustangs.