The Chevrolet Camaro ceased production late last year, but the nameplate has not been recalled.
A new seventh generation Camaro is set to be launched, and GM President Mark Reuss revealed some details in an interview with Motor Trend magazine published last week.
Royce, whose first car was a 1967 Camaro, said he wants the next generation to return to its roots of being a fun, affordable car with sporty dynamics to help it appeal to a wider audience. This would be in contrast to the steep upward trajectory in Camaro performance over the past two generations, which culminated with the 650-hp ZL1 engine from the sixth-generation car.
Royce also said he wants the car to be an electric vehicle based on GM’s flexible Ultium EV platform and battery technology suite. Its base price could match the $34,995 base price of Chevy’s Equinox EV, he said. That’s a little higher than the base price of a sixth-generation Camaro in its final year, but with incentives, some buyers could walk away with a car that costs less than $30,000.
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But adopting the Ultium platform will lead to delays, which may be why Chevy has not announced when the new Camaro will arrive. Reuss said in his interview with Motor Trend that GM still needs to ramp up battery production. There are plenty of high-priority Ultium-based electric vehicles that need batteries right now, like Chevy’s Silverado EV and the related GMC Sierra EV, as well as the new Chevy Bolt EV arriving in the next 12-18 months and several Cadillac EVs .
Royce did not say whether the Camaro would remain a coupe (and convertible) for its next generation. There have been rumors of the nameplate returning as a sedan or perhaps even a crossover similar to the Mustang Mach-E. Although hardcore fans may balk at change, shaking things up could be good for a nameplate that in recent years has averaged annual sales of less than 30,000 units.
Royce’s comments come shortly after Ford CEO Jim Farley said he never wanted to convert the Mustang to an electric car. He also said he wanted to keep the V-8 engine in the Mustang as long as possible. The V-8 was dropped from the Charger for a redesign in 2024, and based on Royce’s comments, it will likely never return to the Camaro either.
