Final Camaro Rolls Off Assembly Line

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

It’s the end of the line (again) for the Chevy Camaro. According to reports, the brand has wrapped up production of the model entirely, a few weeks past its best-before date thanks to delays partially brought on by UAW strike action earlier this year.


Insiders at GMAuthority.com say their sources indicate the last Camaro was built yesterday, December 14th, bringing to a close the sixth-generation chapter of this tire smoking book. Initially, a stop build date of late November was suggested, a date which was met for convertible production but extended for assembly of the final two-door hardtop coupes. Order books for the 2024 model year closed in early September.


Company spox have been mouthing suggestions that this week’s production halt “is not the end” of the Camaro story, presumably with the company having some sort of electric vehicle bearing the same model name up its corporate sleeve. We see how such a marketing exercise has transpired for the Blazer nameplate, culminating in the spectre of an EV crossover which counts front-wheel drive as part of its planned powertrain availability. If the same configuration crops up for Camaro, you best be sure we’ll all be dusting off our acid-washed jean jackets and mullet wigs before marching on Ren Cen with haste.


Those two items are standard company issue at TTAC, by the way.*


*Wigs? No no, we mean the genuine article mullet -- Ed.


For motorsport fans wondering out loud if the likes of Chase Elliott will be piloting Malibu-branded racecars next year, fear not. Chevy has committed to running the Camaro name in multiple series for 2024, including NASCAR and IMSA. Same goes for the NHRA and the Supercars Championship. We’ll have to wait and see what’s in the hopper beyond next year. It’s a good-looking hot rod in most of its motorsport iterations, so this gearhead is feverishly hoping an equally attractive whip appears in 2025.


Through the first three quarters of this year, Chevy has moved 24,688 Camaro coupes and convertibles, a healthy jump of nearly 30 percent from the year prior. In contrast, Ford managed to sell 35,315 Mustangs, about equal to the same time frame 12 months ago, while Dodge sloughed off 35,350 Challengers (down from 42k) and 63,647 Chargers (flat). Yeah, I know the latter is a sedan but the point remains.


In any event, this leaves the Mustang as the last man standing in Detroit - at least in terms of this segment. Think there'll be any sort of a reprise beyond the expected EV aspirations?


[Image: GM]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • EV-Guy EV-Guy on Dec 18, 2023

    I would have liked to see an EV sports coupe in the works before Camaro ended - looks like a missed opportunity for GM to retain some market share. Electric makes sense here:

    1) Higher performance

    2) Buyers willing to pay more for that performance

    3) Less likely to be used on long trips - fast charging network less important.

    • Art_Vandelay Art_Vandelay on Dec 19, 2023

      I can’t think of a segment less likely to embrace an EV than Camaro buyers. You are more likely to get them to give up Marlboros


  • Wjtinfwb Wjtinfwb on Dec 19, 2023

    I really hope the Camaro lives on a V8 gas-fueled car and if it does have to go out, ends it's run with some type of flagship like the GT500 Mustang or the Hellcat Last Call editions. The last thing this storied model name needs is some half-baked limited range EV that can get to 60 in 3 seconds, once, then needs a 30-minute recharge. GM's new Ultium platform is causing all sorts of headaches as the below article written by an EV fan club mag shares. The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV Left Me Stranded In Rural Virginia (msn.com)

  • Theflyersfan I used to love the 7-series. One of those aspirational luxury cars. And then I parked right next to one of the new ones just over the weekend. And that love went away. Honestly, if this is what the Chinese market thinks is luxury, let them have it. Because, and I'll be reserved here, this is one butt-ugly, mutha f'n, unholy trainwreck of a design. There has to be an excellent car under all of the grotesque and overdone bodywork. What were they thinking? Luxury is a feeling. It's the soft leather seats. It's the solid door thunk. It's groundbreaking engineering (that hopefully holds up.) It's a presence that oozes "I have arrived," not screaming "LOOK AT ME EVERYONE!!!" The latter is the yahoo who just won $1,000,000 off of a scratch-off and blows it on extra chrome and a dozen light bars on a new F150. It isn't six feet of screens, a dozen suspension settings that don't feel right, and no steering feel. It also isn't a design that is going to be so dated looking in five years that no one is going to want to touch it. Didn't BMW learn anything from the Bangle-butt backlash of 2002?
  • Theflyersfan Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia still don't seem to have a problem moving sedans off of the lot. I also see more than a few new 3-series, C-classes and A4s as well showing the Germans can sell the expensive ones. Sales might be down compared to 10-15 years ago, but hundreds of thousands of sales in the US alone isn't anything to sneeze at. What we've had is the thinning of the herd. The crap sedans have exited stage left. And GM has let the Malibu sit and rot on the vine for so long that this was bound to happen. And it bears repeating - auto trends go in cycles. Many times the cars purchased by the next generation aren't the ones their parents and grandparents bought. Who's to say that in 10 years, CUVs are going to be seen at that generation's minivans and no one wants to touch them? The Japanese and Koreans will welcome those buyers back to their full lineups while GM, Ford, and whatever remains of what was Chrysler/Dodge will be back in front of Congress pleading poverty.
  • Corey Lewis It's not competitive against others in the class, as my review discussed. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/chevrolet/rental-review-the-2023-chevrolet-malibu-last-domestic-midsize-standing-44502760
  • Turbo Is Black Magic My wife had one of these back in 06, did a ton of work to it… supercharger, full exhaust, full suspension.. it was a blast to drive even though it was still hilariously slow. Great for drive in nights, open the hatch fold the seats flat and just relax.Also this thing is a great example of how far we have come in crash safety even since just 2005… go look at these old crash tests now and I cringe at what a modern electric tank would do to this thing.
  • MaintenanceCosts Whenever the topic of the xB comes up…Me: "The style is fun. The combination of the box shape and the aggressive detailing is very JDM."Wife: "Those are ghetto."Me: "They're smaller than a Corolla outside and have the space of a RAV4 inside."Wife: "Those are ghetto."Me: "They're kind of fun to drive with a stick."Wife: "Those are ghetto."It's one of a few cars (including its fellow box, the Ford Flex) on which we will just never see eye to eye.
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