We don’t believe the Chevy Camaro is long for this world after seeing the latest sales figures for April-June 2020. In Q2 Chevy sold only 6,674 2020 Camaros in the US. But it was way down in every market it is sold in. Sales for the first half of 2020 are off by almost 50%. Granted, 2020 has been a bust for every vehicle sold. But that number hovers around 30-35% down overall. So the 2020 Camaro is around 15% below that. And, Camaro sales are way worse than the competition; how long can it survive?

We already know that 2023 is supposed to be Camaro’s last year, with no development for a replacement. But GM is putting its resources behind those vehicles selling well, especially with COVID-19 manufacturing disruptions. Those that aren’t selling, like the Buick LaCrosse, and Chevy Volt, Impala, and Cruze; have been canceled.

When you compare Camaro to its competition it gets worse

When you compare Camaro to its competition: the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, it looks worse for the Camaro. Mustang holds the lead with 43% of the segment sales. That equates to almost 34,000 sales. This number is 27% off from last year.

The Dodge Challenger has 27% in this segment. That amounts to almost 34,000 sold in 2020 so far. It’s off its 2019 pace by 35%, which is the average for the industry in 2020. As you can see the Camaro sold half the amount of Mustangs so far this year. The Challenger sold a third more in spite of being an almost 10 years older car. Where are all of the Camaro fans? 

The next new Mustang was expected to debut in 2021 but that may have gotten pushed back due to the pandemic. We know that Dodge is developing a new Challenger but there are a lot of question marks from the impending merger with the PSA Group. Because of this, the Camaro was expected to be heavily facelifted in 2021 and then ride into the sunset in 2023. 

GM’s trucks and SUVs-only strategy makes it harder to continue with Camaro

At some point, there was a seventh-generation Camaro in development. The unofficial word is that it has been shelved. But it seems like these numbers make a revival of development a non-starter. Plus, GM’s trucks and SUVs-only strategy makes it seem harder to continue with Camaro.

If these numbers remain through the 2020 model year the Camaro would be selling in the range of the Corvette. But the Corvette has a much higher profile and brand recognition than the Camaro. This also lends credence to rumors that Chevy is considering launching a new range of vehicles with the Corvette name. This is much like Ford is doing with the Mustang and Bronco brands. While purists would be sick, from a branding standpoint it makes sense. 

It would also ensure that the Corvette name would live on. That’s also important because as we can see it looks like the Camaro name will not, which is a shame.