Camaro firms for Oz

Chevrolet's Camaro has been an off-again, on-again proposition for Australians since Holden developed the fifth-generation vehicle in 2010, and General Motors continues to hint that the all-new sixth-generation muscle car will finally be sold here.

In January during the 2015 Detroit motor show, Stefan Jacoby, GM's executive vice president for international operations, stated: "We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand portfolio. It is not currently in production.

"It will be most likely a V8, it will be a sports car and it will be a global car," said Jacoby.

That led to widespread speculation the Mk6 Camaro -- which will make its global debut in Detroit on May 16 – will come to Holden showrooms as a direct rival for the new Ford Mustang due here from December.

Since then GM has begun to drip-feed information about the new Camaro, which it claims will be the most dynamic ever and almost 100kg lighter than before, because it's based on the same Alpha platform as the Cadillac ATS.

Mark Reuss, president of GM North America and a former Holden boss who has intimate knowledge of the Australian market, told motoring.com.au the new Camaro's Australian release was far from a done deal.

"Yeah I read what you guys wrote of what he [Jacoby] said," replied Reuss at the New York motor show overnight, in response to our query about the Jacoby comments.

Asked if there were any truth to his colleague's words, Reuss responded tersely: "No comment".

GM's North American president confirmed that development of the Mk6 Camaro was coming along nicely, saying he was "excited" about its arrival, and noted that the engine range would be greater than the current model.

But when questioned about the possibility of a right-hand drive version for export markets like Australia, he said: "We haven't talked about that yet".

Reuss did, however, say that "all of our architectures [are designed] to be capable for right-hand drive" and added that "decisions [are made] on a vehicle by vehicle, market by market basis."

If the Camaro did join the Mustang on sale in Australia, the V8-powered coupes would effectively fill the rear-drive performance roles long played by the homegrown Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, which will be axed by the end of the 2016 and 2017 respectively.