"Why the New Camaro Will Fail"?
"Why the New Camaro Will Fail"? Found this article on Worldnetdaily.com this morning while browsing the internet news. Enjoy. 
Why the New Camaro Will Fail
By Eric Peters
Published 6/20/2006 12:07:16 AM
Watching Ford bathe in the glory of its resurgent, retro-style Mustang has surely been agonizing for General Motors -- as well as deja vu all over again.
Back in 1964, when the first Mustang appeared, GM also had to stand there empty handed, with nothing to offer customers but fumbling excuses -- and promises that something was in the works. Three years later, in 1967, the first Camaro finally appeared. It was a good-looking car and did well. But the Mustang had a critical three-year head start. Camaro was caught playing catch-up. It had some good years -- especially in the mid-late 1970s and through the 1980s, when Tuned Port Injection IROC-Zs were as common as Ocean Pacific shorts and boom boxes as street performers -- but faltered badly in the 1990s after a not-so-hot restyle.
Sales drooped to unsustainable levels within a few years and GM eventually cancelled the Camaro (and its sheetmetal sister, the Pontiac Firebird) after the 2002 model year.
Now GM is frantically rushing an all-new Camaro to market, perhaps as soon as 2007. The news has been accompanied by great fanfare and hagiographical commentary in the motor press -- the same way news that Pontiac would be bringing back the GTO ginned up much tub-thumping and happy scribbling back in 2003. (Much of this rah-rahing issued from the pens and laptops of over-40 guys who could remember the good old days when obstreperous V-8 muscle cars prowled the streets -- and pined for their youthful days-gone-by returning.)
But the revived GTO died quickly and quietly -- despite heroic horsepower numbers and better performance than any classic-era GTO ever delivered. Some of us saw it coming from the get-go.
The new Camaro will probably die on the vine for the same reasons -- and a couple of new ones, too.
And again, it's not all that hard to understand why. Or to see the iceberg dead ahead.
Unlike the Mustang -- which has always managed to appeal to a broad base of buyers ranging from young women to old men and everyone in between -- the Camaro is and always has been a strutting muscle machine. A car for drive-throughs, Friday night cruising, and teenage boys.
That works fine when it's 1969 -- and young, single guys can still afford to buy (and insure) such a car. It doesn't work so well in today's hamstrung, hyper-regulated and cost-inflated world. Part of what killed the latter-day GTO was its $30k price point. The young (under 30) guys who might want such a car couldn't afford it -- and the older guys who could had grown up. They wanted something less goofy. So did their wives. The same problem will surely beset the coming Camaro -- unless GM, by some miracle of Enron-esque accounting, figures out a way to sell the thing for less than $25,000.
And that still leaves the insurance issue. (Will GM offer to cover the nut?) And the reality that the market slice for cars of this type has become narrower than Paris Hilton's waistline. Ford has already vacuumed up a goodly chunk of the prospective buyers. Import sport compacts will prove stiff competition for the remainder. How many new Camaros must GM sell to make the project economically viable? And how hard will that be given the late start, limited buyer pool -- and the very real danger of $3 per gallon (or more) fuel? A 15 mpg V-8 muscle car in a world of $70 fill-ups is apt to be about as popular as Hummers and Navigators and Excursions -- sheetmetal Brontosauri that face extinction (or at least, massive discounting just to get them off dealers' lots).
These are daunting challenges.
But the thing that will drive a stake through the new Camaro's hood, deep into its small-block heart, is the polarizing, hyper-macho cod piece styling. If the production car ends up looking like the show car that's been in every buff magazine and all over the news, it will be the belly flop heard 'round the world.
The enduring genius of Ford's Mustang is that it transcends testosterone -- and the muscle car era. Fitted with a hi-po engine and stripes, it's a car that guys absolutely love. But it doesn't alienate women -- and women are half the market, don't forget (and most guys have a woman in their lives who they'd prefer not to annoy with their choice of car). The previous generation (1994-2002) Camaro was an "in your face" kind of car -- and so is this new one. You either love it -- or you hate it. And the question is, can GM afford such a confrontational machine with inherently limited appeal -- one that's already hobbled by being late to the game, fighting for a relatively small subset of prospective buyers and which will likely arrive just in time for the next ugly uptick in gas prices?
The smart money (or mine, at least) says don't bet the farm on it.
It's 2007 -- not 1967.
Like a botox'd, aerobicized, fish-netted Cher crooning on the mothballed battleship Iowa, you can sing longingly about turning back time all you like. Actually doing it, of course, is a tougher thing to engineer.
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: Cars We Love to Hate (MBI).
Why the New Camaro Will Fail
By Eric Peters
Published 6/20/2006 12:07:16 AM
Watching Ford bathe in the glory of its resurgent, retro-style Mustang has surely been agonizing for General Motors -- as well as deja vu all over again.
Back in 1964, when the first Mustang appeared, GM also had to stand there empty handed, with nothing to offer customers but fumbling excuses -- and promises that something was in the works. Three years later, in 1967, the first Camaro finally appeared. It was a good-looking car and did well. But the Mustang had a critical three-year head start. Camaro was caught playing catch-up. It had some good years -- especially in the mid-late 1970s and through the 1980s, when Tuned Port Injection IROC-Zs were as common as Ocean Pacific shorts and boom boxes as street performers -- but faltered badly in the 1990s after a not-so-hot restyle.
Sales drooped to unsustainable levels within a few years and GM eventually cancelled the Camaro (and its sheetmetal sister, the Pontiac Firebird) after the 2002 model year.
Now GM is frantically rushing an all-new Camaro to market, perhaps as soon as 2007. The news has been accompanied by great fanfare and hagiographical commentary in the motor press -- the same way news that Pontiac would be bringing back the GTO ginned up much tub-thumping and happy scribbling back in 2003. (Much of this rah-rahing issued from the pens and laptops of over-40 guys who could remember the good old days when obstreperous V-8 muscle cars prowled the streets -- and pined for their youthful days-gone-by returning.)
But the revived GTO died quickly and quietly -- despite heroic horsepower numbers and better performance than any classic-era GTO ever delivered. Some of us saw it coming from the get-go.
The new Camaro will probably die on the vine for the same reasons -- and a couple of new ones, too.
And again, it's not all that hard to understand why. Or to see the iceberg dead ahead.
Unlike the Mustang -- which has always managed to appeal to a broad base of buyers ranging from young women to old men and everyone in between -- the Camaro is and always has been a strutting muscle machine. A car for drive-throughs, Friday night cruising, and teenage boys.
That works fine when it's 1969 -- and young, single guys can still afford to buy (and insure) such a car. It doesn't work so well in today's hamstrung, hyper-regulated and cost-inflated world. Part of what killed the latter-day GTO was its $30k price point. The young (under 30) guys who might want such a car couldn't afford it -- and the older guys who could had grown up. They wanted something less goofy. So did their wives. The same problem will surely beset the coming Camaro -- unless GM, by some miracle of Enron-esque accounting, figures out a way to sell the thing for less than $25,000.
And that still leaves the insurance issue. (Will GM offer to cover the nut?) And the reality that the market slice for cars of this type has become narrower than Paris Hilton's waistline. Ford has already vacuumed up a goodly chunk of the prospective buyers. Import sport compacts will prove stiff competition for the remainder. How many new Camaros must GM sell to make the project economically viable? And how hard will that be given the late start, limited buyer pool -- and the very real danger of $3 per gallon (or more) fuel? A 15 mpg V-8 muscle car in a world of $70 fill-ups is apt to be about as popular as Hummers and Navigators and Excursions -- sheetmetal Brontosauri that face extinction (or at least, massive discounting just to get them off dealers' lots).
These are daunting challenges.
But the thing that will drive a stake through the new Camaro's hood, deep into its small-block heart, is the polarizing, hyper-macho cod piece styling. If the production car ends up looking like the show car that's been in every buff magazine and all over the news, it will be the belly flop heard 'round the world.
The enduring genius of Ford's Mustang is that it transcends testosterone -- and the muscle car era. Fitted with a hi-po engine and stripes, it's a car that guys absolutely love. But it doesn't alienate women -- and women are half the market, don't forget (and most guys have a woman in their lives who they'd prefer not to annoy with their choice of car). The previous generation (1994-2002) Camaro was an "in your face" kind of car -- and so is this new one. You either love it -- or you hate it. And the question is, can GM afford such a confrontational machine with inherently limited appeal -- one that's already hobbled by being late to the game, fighting for a relatively small subset of prospective buyers and which will likely arrive just in time for the next ugly uptick in gas prices?
The smart money (or mine, at least) says don't bet the farm on it.
It's 2007 -- not 1967.
Like a botox'd, aerobicized, fish-netted Cher crooning on the mothballed battleship Iowa, you can sing longingly about turning back time all you like. Actually doing it, of course, is a tougher thing to engineer.
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: Cars We Love to Hate (MBI).
SSU'S Vice Mod
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,391
Likes: 0
From: Hazard Co. Maryland
Originally Posted by two step
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: Cars We Love to Hate (MBI).
You can see how this guy makes his money its his job to write this ****.
You can see how this guy makes his money its his job to write this ****.
Yes, sales slumped for the F-bodies in the last years of their exsistance, but maybe that was do to very poor marketing and engineering??? Last I checked, the F-Bodies are as big an American Icon as the Mustang, if not bigger. Production numbers (for the sister cars) were on par with that of the Mustang, there was a great rivalry between the three cars, and from the amount of women I've seen driving v-6 F-cars, I don't think this fool knows exactly what he's talking about.
What a arrogant, pompous ***. He goes on pontificating like he actually knows what he is talking about, but his head is so far up his *** he is not even in touch with the real world and the enthusiasts who will buy this car. I was at the Detroit Auto show when it debuted and it was a huge hit with a big crowd constantly around the display; it was like a concert.
He can knock GM, but the reality is Ford did invent the pony car market, but GM perfected it over the years. Chevy has stayed true to the original pony car theme over the entire run of the F-body. There may have been some stumbles along the way (Ford did as well), but by the time the F-body stopped production it raised the bar significantly for a true performance pony car and not just a fluffy decal package.
The new GTO is a great performance car and is untouched in it's price range. It easily out perform it's predecessors, but unfortunately bears the burden of a poor marketing campaign (only now do they advertise it) that will surely go down in automotive history as one of the biggest marketing blunders ever.
GM is not stupid and understands the new Camaro can help take them to a new level. Of course only time will tell, but I'm confident GM will get the new Camaro right.
He can knock GM, but the reality is Ford did invent the pony car market, but GM perfected it over the years. Chevy has stayed true to the original pony car theme over the entire run of the F-body. There may have been some stumbles along the way (Ford did as well), but by the time the F-body stopped production it raised the bar significantly for a true performance pony car and not just a fluffy decal package.
The new GTO is a great performance car and is untouched in it's price range. It easily out perform it's predecessors, but unfortunately bears the burden of a poor marketing campaign (only now do they advertise it) that will surely go down in automotive history as one of the biggest marketing blunders ever.
GM is not stupid and understands the new Camaro can help take them to a new level. Of course only time will tell, but I'm confident GM will get the new Camaro right.
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 91
Likes: 0
From: Illinois
a good responce to that article:
http://www.5thgen.org/forum/showpost...3&postcount=14
also it got posted here in readermail:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_readermail.asp
http://www.5thgen.org/forum/showpost...3&postcount=14
also it got posted here in readermail:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_readermail.asp
Trending Topics
Last time I checked the previous generation Camaro was 93-02, not 94-02 as he stated. I actually think the new Camaro will do well if priced right and appeals to more female buyers as he noted since women are the ones who buy up the one pipe dummies (V6) who account for most sales.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
All those new Mustangs you see on the road are mostly 6cyl, and they are driven by the general public becuase they want a "Mustang" not becasue they are a musscle car enthusiast. The Mustang was first and it has its name and thats why they are sold. The Camaro will outperform the Mustang just as it always has done and thats why us musscle car enthusiast drive them.
Originally Posted by BTTM
Unlike the Mustang -- which has always managed to appeal to a broad base of buyers ranging from young women to old men and everyone in between -- the Camaro is and always has been a strutting muscle machine. A car for drive-throughs, Friday night cruising, and teenage boys.
Originally Posted by 91RS
That's the biggest load of **** I've ever heard. The Camaro appeals to the exact same people as the Mustang, it just depends which car you like better. I see just as many women driving Camaros as men around here.
I agree the mustang as I’ve always seen it is middle age dorks or 20-70 year old women. 1 out of 20 FBodies is a women, the rest are 20-40yr men. Look at the 98-02 TA that’s one wild looking car, just bang look at me, obnoxious hood and large spoiler in your face aggressiveness. The mustang is a tamed down everyday car and like everybody else has said generally packing a mighty V6. Its down right annoying watching these middle age men attempt to show off in a wanna be pony car.
I hope the new camaro shows up it offers that "muscle" that was gone in 02. I want it to show refinement, "walk softly but carry a big stick”. When that car drives by people should look at stare, not just giggle like they do when the 35yr guy driving a drop top V6 horse drives by. Fbodies have always met raw American and ya that’s a good thing to.
I hope the new camaro shows up it offers that "muscle" that was gone in 02. I want it to show refinement, "walk softly but carry a big stick”. When that car drives by people should look at stare, not just giggle like they do when the 35yr guy driving a drop top V6 horse drives by. Fbodies have always met raw American and ya that’s a good thing to.
Originally Posted by RaNsOm
actually, not really. You see 10x more V6 mustangs, or mustangs in general than the Fbody. Dont be afraid to admit it, the mustang succeed's because of its V6 sales , not because of the GT.
i see way more Z's than i do GTs. but, i see more V6 shitstangs than i see v6 camaros 
like it or not the guy makes some good points.
the camaro needs to attract a wider range of buyers. i think a 5th gen. will sell ok but ok isnt good enough for GM right now.
the camaro needs to attract a wider range of buyers. i think a 5th gen. will sell ok but ok isnt good enough for GM right now.
Teching In
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
I understand how this article could upset you guys but please don't bash on the Mustang just because this guy says some stupid things. I'm a Ford guy through and through but I have respect for the f-bodies because they carry a classic American nameplate. In a way I'm glad to see the Camaro coming back because it means that Ford will have to step up their game with the Mustang. It's always been a back and forth battle between GM and Ford over who has the best pony car and it's always been the consumer who ends up winning. :-)