Camaro nameplate to be killed off in 2023?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Dodge Charger to get major revamp for 2020
Richard Truett

https://www.autonews.com/cars-concep...or-revamp-2020

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CHELSEA, Mich. — It's rare if not unprecedented for an automaker to invest serious cash into a vehicle whose bones are old enough to vote. But the Dodge Charger is getting a significant revamp for 2020.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is claiming the new 2020 Charger Hellcat Widebody will be the "most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world." FCA said the Hemi-engined Hellcat will reach 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and have a top speed of 196 mph.

The car, whose platform is derived from an old Mercedes-Benz that migrated to Dodge during the DaimlerChrysler era, packs a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V-8 rated at 707 hp and 650 pound-feet of torque. That's the same basic powertrain from the Dodge Challenger Hellcat, also a survivor from the DaimlerChrysler era. An 8-speed automatic transmission is standard.

The wide-body treatment includes huge fender flares that add 3.5 inches of width over 20-inch wheels, which are also 11 inches wide. The car also gets new front and rear fascias.

Dodge engineers added six-piston Brembo brakes with two-piece rotors and a Hellcat-specific three-mode suspension system that uses Bilstein adaptive shocks.


No prices have been announced, but dealers will be able to order the car this fall and deliveries are scheduled to start early next year.

"People say, 'no one wants cars anymore.' I would tell you that the 40,000 people who bought a Dodge Charger so far this year would probably agree, because to them, the Charger isn't just a car," said Tim Kuniskis, head of passenger cars for FCA in North America.

"The Charger's reach extends beyond body-style practicalities and it can't be defined by average industry shifts," he said.

The wide-body appearance package also will be available on a lower-powered Charger, the Scat Pack model.

Dodge Charger's U.S. sales fell 4.2 percent to 26,716 vehicles through May.

FCA assembles the Charger at its plant at its Brampton plant in Canada, where an FCA spokesman said production will remain "status quo."

That looks great - I wonder if they'll ever bring the Charger into our market?

The latest variant of the 300C SRT is a nice ride, I see them from time to time on the freeway heading into Melbourne - it's gangsta as

The only problem with Mopar stuff is it's mega spondoolies when it craps out and there's not much knowledge around on how to fix them.

Kinda like all the downsides of European stuff but with none of the benefits.

[Rob 351]

We are in Dallas atm and have hired Challenger and must say, compared to to our Mustang, It’s very disappointing. Goes ok but just feels old, heavy and slow compared to Mustang.
Anyway, here for a few weeks so will give a summary when finished with it.

[arronm]

What model you got??

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by arronm

One of these is a muscle car. The other 2 look like fried rice....

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lol open up your other eye all 3 look awesome...

As for OP... Typical GM short sightedness.. Ford made the call to make the Mustang a "Global Car" by making in RHD and selling them all over the shop which make the model more viable in the long term...

GM?? Well they just kept heads in the sand and stuck to LHD only... A factory RHD Camaro sold here for similar coin to the Mustang would do bloody well..

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by arronm

Pony car = gahy.....

:evilid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avd1GdpB_2A

I'd gladly have one and anyone could call me anything they like

[jpd80]

A bit of supposed inside info from one of the US GM fan websites...
It's a good read to bring people up to speed anyway...

The Platform Conundrum
Over the past few months, GM/Chevrolet started initial development work on the seventh-generation Camaro on the Alpha 2 platform, which is a slightly progressed version of the first-gen Alpha chassis used by the sixth-gen Camaro (the Cadillac CT5 uses Alpha 2). Our sources tell us that the decision to use A2 for the seventh-gen Camaro was a decision that was frowned upon. That’s because Alpha – no matter the generation – is considered a “legacy architecture” that does factor into GM’s plans to have the entire vehicle portfolio riding on four highly-flexible vehicle sets by 2025. Here’s where things start to get really interesting.

The only GM vehicle set capable of supporting a car like the Camaro is VSS-R (Vehicle Strategy Set – Rear drive). GM is planning to use VSS-R to underpin all future rear-drive cars (as opposed to SUVs or trucks) with a longitudinal powertrain orientation. The problem is VSS-R is the last GM vehicle set to go into production, and is not scheduled to launch until the 2025 calendar year on the second-generation Cadillac CT6.

And therein lies the problem: the sixth-gen Camaro is scheduled to end production in 2023, while the only platform vehicle set that could theoretically underpin the seventh-gen model won’t be ready for another 18-24 months, according to our sources. Faced with those circumstances, GM explored two strategies for the Camaro program:
Develop the seventh-gen Camaro on VSS-R, while either discontinuing the current sixth-gen Camaro or extending its lifespan by a year or two, or
Take the Camaro in a whole different direction, reimagining the Camaro entirely
It would appear as though The General has instead elected for the second option.

Reimagining An Icon
GM has made it crystal clear that its vision for the future is electric, with zero emissions (along with zero crashes and zero congestion). The automaker plans to roll out an entire onslaught of electric cars in the next few years. Despite the fact that the very few people are buying EVs at the moment, The General is pushing full steam ahead to bring to market 20 new electric cars by 2023. In fact, we recently learned that GM has doubled the resources allocated to the initiative, like assigning Camaro chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser, to lead GM’s electric vehicle program. Part of GM’s electric initiative is a new, all-electric vehicle platform that we can currently refer to as BEV3. The architecture is being developed to be ever-flexible. It will be capable of supporting all kinds of body styles and all three drivetrain configurations – front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, and all-wheel-drive. In fact, it’s that very flexibility that GM is hoping will enable it to reach the scale necessary to become the first automaker to turn a profit on EVs. It’s also worth noting that BEV3 will incorporate elements of VSS-R, which is what led us to report earlier that the next-gen Camaro will ride on that vehicle set.

Either way, our sources tell us that a two-door mainstream sports car for Chevrolet is part of future GM electric vehicle plans. That much was even foreshadowed by GM itself in a 2017 slide, above, announcing the EV strategy. Whether that vehicle will actually wear the iconic Camaro name, or be called something else entirely, is currently unknown.

Bottom line is that GM went into Gen 6 Camaro thinking it has years in front of it before needing a heavy evolution but due to Gen 6 Camaro arriving so late in the Alpha product cycle, the two Cadillac cars, CT4 and CT5 have just rolled to Alpha 2, there's no way they can keep the bread winner Camaro on first gen Alpha for another four years...it will be DOA. They have to do something in the next two years.

Kinda feels like they're dead legging Gen 6 Camaro until a brand new BEV version can take over...

[roddy1960]

The big companies keep driving their loyal fans mad I think with announcements like these .. Lately it's more about dropping vehicles and mergers or joint ventures with other mobs .

I get it that rationilization is always an issue in car manufacturing but they are forgetting many of the loyal buyers who have made names like Camaro in GM's case iconic .

Even though I may never own a Mustang , the day Ford drops that nameplate will be the day I really consider my loyalty to Ford that's for sure especially now that Falcon has gone , never to return .

I suppose the Corvette is safe for the minute is it or are they going to hack that out too ?

[Rob 351]

Originally Posted by arronm

What model you got??

RT Challenger with 16000k on the clock.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

The big companies keep driving their loyal fans mad I think with announcements like these .. Lately it's more about dropping vehicles and mergers or joint ventures with other mobs .

In Fairness Roddy, GM has said nothing, the reports of non-development of gen 7 Camaro was a rumor form several sources, later qualified as GM possibly changing course to a BEV camaro in 2023.

I get it that rationilization is always an issue in car manufacturing but they are forgetting many of the loyal buyers who have made names like Camaro in GM's case iconic .

Even though I may never own a Mustang , the day Ford drops that nameplate will be the day I really consider my loyalty to Ford that's for sure especially now that Falcon has gone , never to return .

Change away from cars has hit GM hard, they spent up big on both FWD and RWD cars only to see sales virtually collapse.

In comparison, Ford basically rode its One Ford cars into the ground and switched car plant production to more SUVs. GM on the other hand kills four car plants in US and imports SUVs from mexico - doesn't play well there.

I suppose the Corvette is safe for the minute is it or are they going to hack that out too ?

C8 Corvette is now mid engine vehicle, completely different formula to what traditional Corvette is. I bet you the C8's price goes up through the roof and it sits like a wall flower because GM so bent on beating Ford GT fails to give its Corvette buyers what they expect or want.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by MethodX

Hopefully its not true,

Don't worry, they'll bring it back as an SUV...