Chevy SS: Sweet & Sour

Some American buyers are sweet on the Chevy SS even willing to pay a premium. For General Motors, the SS leaves a sour taste.

Looking back just 18 months and it was such a different story. Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, was positively confident in revealing Chevrolet's ambitious strategy for the SS sedan with blunt-force marketing through NASCAR and limited volumes to be imported from South Australia. The Las Vegas casino venue seemed out of context. This was a sure thing; no risk and certainly not a gamble. 

The big Aussie sedan topped with luxury features and a big 6.2-litre V8, as per the plan, would sit door-to-door with Camaro and Corvette in Chevy's 3000+ dealerships in the United States. Of course, it was a no brainer. 

Reuss's grand plan has played out so differently than expected. Starting with delivery delays followed by GM's decision to close the Elisabeth plant, the SS seemed doomed before it ever turned a wheel in the United States.

As of April, only 1000 SS sedans have arrived stateside, according to GM, which always claimed SS would be a limited volume nameplate. GM now defines limited to be between 3000-5000 vehicles. Put in real money terms, a dealer will be lucky to see an SS in the showroom. Sadly, limited also means GM is unlikely to spend a cent, beyond weekend NASCAR sponsorship, to promote the SS as a performance nameplate. 

Despite the dramas and delays, the SS sedan packs performance and luxury that's hard to overlook and too good to ignore. It is a favourite of American motoring journalists who haven't restrained their praise of the SS. Motor Trend put it head-to-head with Chrysler's 300 SRT in a lopsided comparison. Quiet, comfortable and quick seem to be the SS's best qualities. But you already know that. 

"We had so much interest before we had the car, and the wait of almost a year to get cars did hurt us," said one California dealer. "Instead of wait, most who wanted an SS went out and bought a Cadillac. We received four. Two sold immediately; the other two won't be on the floor long." 

The SS is finding buyers. Well, buyers are finding the SS. What's more, some of those buyers are willing to pay more than the recommended retail price of $44,500 – including a $1300 gas guzzler tax. Some perspective: that's twice the recommended price of an entry-level Camaro. 

April was good for Chevy-badged muscle cars with Camaro doing more than 9000 in sales and the new C7 Corvette at 3480 for the month. However, the SS will continue to tick over at a few hundred per month. Too good to fail and too few to be a success. 

"We're not discounting the SS," said one dealer who sold the two he was allocated at a rich premium over RRP. "But we're also not promoting it; the margins for us are so thin. GM isn't promoting it either with advertising or dealer incentives."

On the upside, there's a healthy demand for the SS. On the downside, there's a real supply problem and that's not likely to ever improve.