If the Chevrolet Camaro Discontinued in 2023, General Motors hasn’t yet teased the history of the long-time Ford Mustang competitor. It turns out that the American automaker wasn’t just blowing smoke into the air.
GM Authority reports that the Camaro is indeed returning, with sources familiar with the matter confirming that production is scheduled to begin in late 2027.
According to reports, it will be manufactured at the same factory – the Lansing Grand River plant in the US state of Michigan – as the sixth-generation Camaro.
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If you’re worried that Chevrolet would put the iconic badge on something like an electric crossover — as was previously rumored — you can breathe a sigh of relief.
According to reports, the seventh-generation Camaro will be based on the Alpha II rear-wheel-drive platform that underpinned the last Camaro as well as its predecessors, the Cadillac CT4 and CT5.
This platform supports four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines, including the turbocharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 found in the CT5-V Blackwing and Camaro ZL1, although no Alpha II-based vehicle has ever used a hybrid or electric powertrain.
However, GM Authority cryptically says, “The Chevy Camaro replacement we’re talking about here may not be exactly what you’d expect,” and has hinted that more information will be released soon.
It’s unclear what the website is referring to, although one possibility is the introduction of a sedan body style. That’s something the Camaro has never offered, even though the Dodge Charger nameplate switched to a sedan just over two decades ago and Ford is reportedly working on a sedan version of its Mustang.
GM sources have said it before GM Authority A seventh-generation Camaro would have to be “affordable and attainable.”
The last Camaro rolled off the assembly line in December 2023, meaning the nameplate will return after a four-year absence – a much shorter gap than between the fourth and fifth generations of the Camaro, which was about seven years.
While the Cadillac CT4 is being retired, there will reportedly be another sedan based on the Alpha II platform: a new, as-yet-unnamed Buick.
Buick has not offered a passenger car in the US market since 2020, the last year of the Regal (also known as the Opel Insignia and Holden ZB Commodore).
However, the company continues to offer passenger vehicles in its largest market, China, including a new generation of the LaCrosse, which was phased out in the U.S. after the 2019 model year.
A rear-wheel-drive sedan is quite a departure for Buick. Not one has been offered since the Park Avenue, a renamed Holden Caprice that was sold in China until 2012. The last time one was sold in the US market was in 1996 with the old-school Roadmaster body and frame.
The new Buick sedan will likely be a different and significantly smaller beast, and it’s unclear what name it will carry.
Buick now has a lineup comprised entirely of premium luxury crossover SUVs, so the return of the iconic Grand National nameplate seems unlikely, even though the Alpha II platform was critically praised for its dynamism and the vehicles based on it were offered with hot V8 and turbo V6 engines.
The brand could reuse the Regal nameplate, which is still used in China on a revised version of the defunct Insignia/Commodore/US-market Regal. There are many precedents for sporty Regals: Buick’s midsize car has been offered with turbo V6 power in the past – including under the Grand National nameplate.
Automotive News reports from a supplier that GM expects to produce 60,000 to 70,000 CT5 and Camaro vehicles annually at the plant, suggesting the automaker expects an increase in sales for those two nameplates.
U.S. sales of the sixth-generation Camaro fell steadily from 72,705 in its first year (2016) to 21,893 in 2021 before rising again.
The CT5 peaked in 2023 with 18,593 sales in the United States, although it always sold significantly better in China, where it is also produced.
The sixth generation Camaro was officially sold in Australia between 2018 and 2020, with Holden Special Vehicles carrying out the right-hand drive conversion work, and a total of 1550 vehicles were sold during this period.
Only coupes were offered locally, not convertibles, and only SS and ZL1 variants with V8 power were available, although the naturally aspirated V6 and four-cylinder turbo engines were not included.
When it launched new in 2018, the Camaro 2SS with the 6.2-litre V8 and eight-speed automatic had a starting price of almost $86,000 before on-road costs.
This put it at a significant disadvantage compared to the first Mustang in the world, which was manufactured from the factory with right-hand drive and is available here with a V8 drive for around $20,000 less. And the Camaro ZL1 cost $160,000 plus on-road when sold exclusively in 2019-2020.
The Camaro was the only Alpha II-based GM product ever sold here.
While the previous fifth-generation Camaro used the Australian-developed Zeta platform shared with the Holden VE and VF Commodores, it was never sold here.
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