Chevrolet Camaro Could, Reportedly, Be Dead After 2023

Seventh generation Camaro could be shelved, possibly leading to another hiatus for the Chevy muscle car.

If you told someone in 2013 that the Chevrolet Camaro would be discontinued in ten years, most people would have probably called you crazy. Back then, the Chevy muscle car was amidst four-year run at the top of the segment, beating the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger soundly each year from 2010 through 2013. However, Camaro sales have plummeted over the past three years and according to a report from Muscle Cars and Trucks, the next generation planning has been cancelled and once the current generation ends in 2023, the nameplate will once again leave production.

To be clear, the Camaro is facing the same ending in 2023 that it did back in 2002, so General Motors and Chevy performance fans could be facing another era devoid of an affordable performance car.

No Seventh Gen Camaro

According to the report, the seventh generation development had begun, but it has been shelved, so when the current generation reaches the end of its course for the 2023 model year, the Camaro program as a whole could be shelved as well.

The current Chevrolet Camaro is built on GM’s Alpha platform which also underpins the Cadillac ATS and CTS, but with both of those cars moving to the new A2XX platform, the Alpha platform of the current muscle car is being discontinued. Insiders have stated that the Camaro will not move to that new platform and as was the case back in 2002, the nameplate will be killed off for the 2024 model year.

This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, based on the consistently poor sales numbers, but we should remind everyone that Camaro Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser was reassigned earlier this year. Around the same time, key members of the team were shifted to other programs, making many people wonder what the future held for the Chevy muscle car.

Right now, it appears as though it doesn’t have a future beyond 2023.

There Is Hope

While this is horrible news for the muscle car community and performance car world in general, we aren’t counting the Camaro out just yet. With the mid-engine Corvette on the way, the two key Chevy performance cars will be very different from each other starting next year. No longer with the Corvette and Camaro be similarly-powered, rear-drive, front-engine cars, so there will be less in-house competition.

Along the same lines, the C8 Corvette could be pricier than the C7, and a higher starting price for the Corvette could lead some prospective buyers to go with a loaded Camaro over a base level ‘Vette. Should that be the case, Chevrolet could see an increase in Camaro sales and if that increase is significant enough, General Motors could reincarnate the seventh generation development program.

However, right now it looks like Camaro fans are going to need to buy their dream car by 2023 or settle for a used model after that.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com