Return of Chevrolet Camaro unlikely

Chevrolet Camaro fans who hope the iconic V8 coupe’s introduction to Supercars racing in 2022 will signal a return of the road-going model to Australia seem set for disappointment.

Instead, the Camaro racer will be used as a rolling, rumbling, panel-rubbing promotion for the bow-tie brand as it ramps up in Australia under the GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) brand.

Kristian Aquilina, the last boss of Holden and the first and very brief boss of its replacement, General Motors Australia and New Zealand, suggested as much in an official Supercars press release comment today.

“The Camaro ZL1 Supercar will undoubtedly attract passion and excitement, as well as showcase the Chevy bow-tie that is integral to our new GM Specialty Vehicles business in Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

“We loved every minute of our 51-year involvement through Holden. There will never be another Holden, but we now welcome Camaro to the stage and hopefully a whole new generation of fans with it.”

According to multiple carsales sources, GMSV will focus on pick-up trucks led by the Silverado, which is its foundation model, and the mid-engined Corvette supercar that is scheduled to arrive late in 2021.

Using the Camaro to sell Silverados would not be a first for this type of marketing. The Nissan Altima kept racing the Altima in Supercars after the road-going model was deleted, arguing it encouraged buyer interest in the Nissan Navara ute and SUVs such as the Nissan X-Trail.

But not only is the Camaro off the table, so too are a slate of SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe that had been previously linked with a local launch under the GMSV banner.

It seems the cost of their local conversion to right-hand drive would simply make them unacceptably expensive.

Increasingly complex electronics and widescreen infotainment screen/dashboards are said to be a prohibitively expensive part of the process.

The Camaro’s problem is more prosaic. Walkinshaw Automotive Group developed right-hand drive remanufacturing and built about 1200 V8 2SS and 320 supercharged ZL1s between September 2018 and earlier this year.

Intended to act as a spiritual replacement for the HSV range of hot Commodores, the Camaro battled from the start against the cheaper price of its direct rival, the Ford Mustang, which is right-hand drive ex-factory in the USA.

A worsening US dollar exchange rate didn’t help the busines case and Walkinshaw Group made it clear only generous terms from GMSV would reboot remanufacturing.

That clearly hasn’t happened.

There’s another issue and that’s the questionable future of the Camaro beyond the current generation, which Chevrolet is yet clarify.

More likely than Chevy SUVs and Camaros to grace our shores eventually are more trucks. So maybe heavy-duty Silverados, or its GMC equivalent, the Sierra.

GMSV might one day even see an opportunity for the Chevrolet Colorado to return to Australian shores, or bring in its GMC equivalent, the Canyon. Don’t forget this is a hugely popular segment in Australia and the top-end dual-cabs sell really well.

Then there’s the Cadillac luxury brand, which has recently been trademarked in Australia by General Motors.

The question is: would we get the orthodox SUVs like the Escalade that would surely be a hit here, or would the focus be on electric cars?

GM has already declared its intention go all-electric with Cadillac and the left- to right-hand drive conversion process for EVs is a lot cheaper than traditional combustion-engined vehicles.

In fact, EVs are potentially a path for a wide variety of future GM products to head Down Under, including the GMC Hummer, a Silverado EV and many more.

Related: Chevrolet Camaro confirmed for Supercars