Sales of the Camaro have increased by 110%

Sales of the Camaro have increased by 110%. Comparing the spring/summer sales of 2022 over the same time period this year, sales went from about 4,500… to about 9,500. Part of that spike could certainly be production & supply chain improvements post-Covid. But the big fat elephant in the room… is the fact that GM is killing the Camaro with no replacement at the end of this model year. So the the data suggests that buyers are making their move before the doors close. And that got me thinking…

You can absolutely ‘knock one out of the park’…

Without breaking every sales record. That’s what cars like the Camaro do. In the iconic eras of the automotive industry, car-making was approached differently. Cars were NOT just built for the masses… they were built for niche groups within the masses. Car companies made cars to make an impact. And to create a brand identity!

But currently, the automotive industry…

Seems to make cars for people who don’t particularly like cars. That’s why seemingly every new vehicle is a forgettable shapeless crossover… only standing out by the gaudiness of its headlights. Cars have become so dull to drive, that ‘the car’ has become an accessory to ‘its electronics’ at this point.

The masses suck…

They buy boring & uninteresting things… and they’re motivated by convenience & sensibility. In other words, they’ll suck the magic right out of a brand. See – it’s the fringe, where the magic is. The edges of the spectrum, where passion gets prioritized over sensibility. In my opinion, catering to consumers that don’t care about cars is a colossal misstep. You can make the generic options, sure. But you should cater to the fringes who champion your brand. Because look down this path…

What’s gonna happen when car makers finally lose their last real fans?

When the legacy of a brand like Chevrolet is in the past, and not the present? We’re gonna find out soon… as most car companies have abandoned their enthusiast fanbase at this point. And when all the cool passion-projects have become diluted or dissolved… what reason is left to be a fan? A Camaro & a Corvette were never Chevrolet’s top sellers. But they carried the energy of the brand. They created excitement & loyalty & image. How many shitbox GM sedans & SUVs have been sold over the decades, because someone in the family had an unwavering allegiance to a Chevrolet performance vehicle. Where do you think that allegiance came from… an Equinox lol?

Today’s car manufacturers are chasing their profits… right off a cliff.

And we’re teetering on the brink an incoming EV tsunami that will be increasingly void of brand loyalty. We’re gonna turn this into Chinese cars with an American badge & a markup (and that damn sure goes for European brands too). Like many things in the world, brand loyalty takes time, effort, and commitment to create. And it can be lost in as little as a generation. Or in the case of Bud Light… a day. The automotive industry has historically been alluring, because art, passion, competition, & excitement were key components.

The 2023 sales-spike of the Chevrolet Camaro…

Show that there is still a demand for that kind of a car. Yet GM is scrapping it to force EVs down our throat. AND/or – because the demand is not as high as a Traverse or a Tahoe.

Final thought…

Let’s be real: GM can’t fucking butcher the design of the Camaro, and then blame ‘the market’ for a lack of demand. With no rhyme or reason, Chevrolet decided to make the frontend of the Camaro look like shit (for a while there). Then they kept raising the prices. The market didn’t go away… Chevrolet just LOST it.