The new Camaro is part of GM’s attempt of strengthening their product lineup, one of the main elements in the automaker’s restructuring plan. General Motors is fighting to recuperate its position in North America, its primary market, to allow turn around the business. GM have lost $85 million in the US during the last three month, which may appear as a lot, but in fact is 150% better than a year earlier.
The first Camaro was introduced as a 1967 model and was Chevy’s answer to the Ford Mustang. The model was stopped at its fourth generation in 2002 model, after about 4.8 million units were produced.
As a reaction to Ford Mustang’s success GM has unveiled the Camaro concept at the 2006 Detroit North American International Auto Show. The concept was “intended to explore customer reaction to design and engineering elements that might lead to an all-new version of the Camaro" as a GM official has stated.
The concept car was 186.2 inches long and used a 110.5-inch wheelbase. The wheels were concept car size reaching 21s at the front and 22s at the rear and where shod with huge 275/30 front and 305/30 rear tires, but they won’t make it to production. The power plant under the bonnet was a 400 bhp LS2 6.0-liter V-8 engine mated with a six-speed manual transmission.
At eight months after the launch of the concept car, the production version was officially announced. It is rumored to use the so-called Zeta Lite platform that Chevrolet will share with Holden in . This architecture can hardly be described as hardly cutting edge, but is a lot more sophisticated than the rigid-axle Mustang. Inside sources point that the $20,000 base model is likely to use an inexpensive V8 (as the LS2 will equip a more expensive model), therefore a V6 version will only be made available for insurance cost reduction.
The first Camaro was introduced as a 1967 model and was Chevy’s answer to the Ford Mustang. The model was stopped at its fourth generation in 2002 model, after about 4.8 million units were produced.
As a reaction to Ford Mustang’s success GM has unveiled the Camaro concept at the 2006 Detroit North American International Auto Show. The concept was “intended to explore customer reaction to design and engineering elements that might lead to an all-new version of the Camaro" as a GM official has stated.
The concept car was 186.2 inches long and used a 110.5-inch wheelbase. The wheels were concept car size reaching 21s at the front and 22s at the rear and where shod with huge 275/30 front and 305/30 rear tires, but they won’t make it to production. The power plant under the bonnet was a 400 bhp LS2 6.0-liter V-8 engine mated with a six-speed manual transmission.
At eight months after the launch of the concept car, the production version was officially announced. It is rumored to use the so-called Zeta Lite platform that Chevrolet will share with Holden in . This architecture can hardly be described as hardly cutting edge, but is a lot more sophisticated than the rigid-axle Mustang. Inside sources point that the $20,000 base model is likely to use an inexpensive V8 (as the LS2 will equip a more expensive model), therefore a V6 version will only be made available for insurance cost reduction.
