Chevy Promises "Big" Things, Including A New Sedan

Issue #207

Would you buy a 4-door Camaro? It sounds crazy, and it just might happen. We discuss Chevy’s five-year plan in this week’s issue.

Or, you can continue to read by scrolling down.

Market News

• Rear-wheel drive and a manual transmission? This sedan could save a faltering brand.

• The Hyundai Ioniq is facing problems due to its own success. Here’s what we mean.

• Bugatti was the only manufacturer using a W16 frequently, and now it’s going away. Here’s why.

• Japan is desperate to protect its automotive industry, and it wants to do this with car parts.

• Can the US automotive industry compete against China without Mexico and Canada? This article has the answer.

Safety and Recalls

• Ford recalls more than 387,000 vehicles for improperly fastened seats. Here’s more.

• Hyundai recalls nearly 48,000 of these vehicles over a critical seatbelt issue.

• Ford is set to return to Le Mans, and here’s the engine powering it. It sounds amazing.

Car Culture

• This Dodge Charger Daytona from 1969 has a fascinating tale, but it failed to enamor buyers at an auction. Would you have paid $355,000?

• This C-10 restomod is perfect. Well, it’s almost perfect, except for the price.

• For years, Japanese cars were limited to 276 hp. Here’s why and why it was actually false.

• Has your dream car changed over the years? There could be an explanation here.

• Mazda once tried to build a competitor to Lexus and Infiniti. Here’s why it failed.

Video Of The Week

This test puts Ram’s most off-road-ready HD truck to the test in one of Colorado’s toughest trails.

In The Know

Will Chevy’s Ambitious Plans Include A 4-Door Camaro?

In 2023, GM pulled the plug on one of Chevy’s most important nameplates: the Camaro. Just as the Christmas break rolled around, the largest American automaker by market cap (excluding Tesla, more on that later) said it was killing off its muscle car for one reason: it wasn’t selling enough of them, as we can remember here.

The numbers were bleak. In some quarters, Dodge sold 450% more Challengers, and Ford sold 425% more Mustangs than Chevy sold Camaros.

However, that was, in reality, only one of the factors.

Back then, GM was investing heavily in EV and hybrid technology, promising billions in investment in EV factories. You can read about the company’s promises and how radically different they were, just three years ago, here.

GM was responding to market demands in a hazy time in automotive history, and in a short span, things have gotten both hazier and clearer at the same time. Back then, GM bet on EVs and SUVs, because that’s what people wanted.

The American consumer drifted away from sedans so rapidly that, in just five years, six midsize sedans met their demise.

Did it work? Yes and no.

As we said in the beginning, GM is the largest American automaker by cap, excluding Tesla, because the bulk of Tesla’s valuation relies on things other than vehicles. It has achieved this rank by four years of Year-to-Year growth, while Ford and Chrysler haven’t had such performance.

The problem is that now, EVs are no longer the “it” thing, and SUVs might be losing their grip on the market as well. It’s not because people don’t like them anymore, but rather because they’ve become such an expensive commodity that people can’t afford them, both new and used, as you can read here. 

Tell us: have you felt the impact of car prices?

Now, EV sales are down, in large part due to the EPA’s reduction of emission policies, the ending of credits, and America’s love of gasoline. Here’s more. 

At the same time, though Americans love gas-powered vehicles, with them being so expensive and fuel costs rising, the market is quickly demanding cheaper alternatives. That’s where the sedan can come into play. After all, just because people love internal combustion engines, it doesn’t mean they’re not interested in fuel economy, as this article explains.

If there’s one thing automakers have proved they can do is change on the fly, especially lately. Granted, “on the fly” in automotive terms is years, not months. Even so, it seems every major brand in the US is working on sedans, and GM is no exception.

As this article explains, GM has a 5-year plan to revamp its fleet, get rid of many EVs, and introduce sedans, including a midsize or smaller version and a sporty option. These could be the Malibu and the Camaro, and they would be on existing Cadillac platforms.

That’s right, this would mean the Camaro would not only be a two-door coupe, but also a sedan. While this gets your head scratching, it does make sense. After all, Ford has hinted at a four-door sedan for quite a while, and it seems to be closer to reality.

Here’s what’s interesting in Chevy’s plans: EVs will remain, but there’s no sign of the company injecting massive energy into them (pun intended). Their lineup will remain largely unchanged.

SUV-wise, it seems GM won’t introduce any new radical ICE-powered SUVs as well, in a clear strategy to optimize what works, to see if what’s new sticks or not.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what they come up with.