Shortages Limit Options at Start of 2022 Camaro Production
After a two-month delay, 2022 Camaro production underway. However, not every feature, package will be readily available for now.
This year’s been rough for Bowtie and GM fans, especially when it comes to their favorite high-performance rides. Earlier this year, for example, production on the 2021 Camaro, as well as the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 (and their hot Blackwing variants) stopped for a couple of weeks due to the ongoing semiconductor shortages. Meanwhile, 2022 Camaro production was to have started in June. Once again, shortages pushed back the start of production until August 17.
Good news: the 2022 Camaro is, indeed, rolling off the assembly line. The bad news, however, comes from GM Authority: not every package or option will be widely available, if at all, at the start of production.
While most options will be available right now, a handful are limited at launch. These include: the ZL1 and ZL1 with A1Z (ZL1 1LE Extreme Track Performance), the Redline Edition, and the Rapid Blue paint code.
Alas, it’s worse for those waiting for their Shock and Steel Edition rides, along with those who want to shift their six-speed manuals attached to their LT1s without dual-mode exhaust. Those two parties will have to wait until later on in the model year before they can have those packages.
With those delays, the sales numbers aren’t going to look so good in the near term. GM Authority reports the lack of production throughout 2021 meant little inventory to replenish showrooms and lots around the United States.
In turn, fewer Camaros went to good homes, landing the modern muscle car third behind the Mustang and Challenger. In fact, the latter was the only one to experience a jump in sales between 2020 and this year at this point in time, jumping from 22,018 to 30,148 units. Meanwhile, Camaro tumbled from 13,860 sold at this time in 2020 to 9,881 now.
How did this even get so bad? Though the blame goes partly on the pandemic, all it did was exacerbate long-standing issues in the supply chain. According to Wendover Productions, many companies learned of Toyota’s “pull forward” model of production and supply.
Yet, without going deeper into how and why Toyota did so, the same companies wound up with egg on their face once they started cancelling semiconductor and other orders. Thus, why a few Camaro fans will have to wait a while longer for their favorite options.
Photos: Instagram/Chevrolet Mexico
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