DETROIT — The 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible appears to be speeding toward reality, according to Chevrolet Vice President Brent Dewar. He said in a Web chat on the GM FastLane blog late Wednesday that the convertible was privately shown to Chevy dealers this week.
"We are working on the specific timing, but it will come out soon," Dewar wrote.
There were fears that GM would scrap the model as a cost-cutting measure. Dewar was asked if Chevrolet will bring back the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 in 2011, and his response was not encouraging.
"We have not officially decided to bring back the Camaro Z28," he said.
The wide-ranging Web chat covered the plans for a variety of Chevrolet products, including a retail version of the Chevrolet Caprice, as well as the GM brand's plans for the 2009 SEMA Auto Show and upcoming auto shows. Regarding SEMA, Dewar said look for "cool Camaros," without giving any more detail.
"We are finalizing our plan right now [for upcoming auto shows]," he wrote. "Look for [the Chevrolet] Cruze] at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show], more news on our cool small and compact cars throughout the year."
He also followed up on any retail plans for a Chevrolet Caprice. GM recently showed off a Caprice police car.
"The announcement for the Caprice is currently only as a police patrol cruiser," Dewar wrote. "It will be RWD with a 6.0-liter V8. We have not made any firm plans yet on a retail version of the Caprice. That said, we are working on a next-gen [Chevrolet] Impala that come [sic] in abover [sic] the Malibu."
Later he added: "Our goal going forward will be to separate further Malibu from Impala. It's about timing."
He was unable to announce pricing on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and added that "we do not have our rollout plans decided yet."
On the truck side, Dewar said: "We are coming with a next-gen [Chevrolet] Silverado and [GMC] Sierra HD next year. It will have a completely new chassis and a new Duramax diesel with 2010 emissions."
Chevrolet also plans to delve into social media in a bigger way.
"We will start a Twitter Chevrolet network for the dealers to communicate directly with our marketing, design and product folk at Chevy," Dewar promised.
Inside Line says: The Chevy product lineup looks to be fairly robust but still would benefit from the return of the Camaro Z28. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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kds74ltz says:
12:48 AM, 12/27/2009
...the whole reason to have the ultimate 4 seater production car is to have the best, against the competition..the srt8 and the gt 500. just as the corvette zr1 is the ultimate 2 seat production car. look at it this way for instance, the US has the best military in the world, we have the greatest fighter ever, the F-22. the US must remain on top no matter what in any instance so that no other force can take us over...just as in the auto market, chevrolet wants to stay on top with every product the have. to be the best is to produce the best. also it boosts the intrests of people around the world to always have something new...do you really think that we should have just stayed with the cars that made back in the 1800s? no, we have to keep working on something new...thats what got us here today!....and yes, some people want more that 400hp!
xprojected says:
08:36 AM, 10/08/2009
Seriously, how much would the Chevy product lineup benefit from the return of the Camaro Z28? Are there enough people out there thinking "gee, I'd like a Camaro, but 400hp is just not enough for me" to turn Chevy's fortunes around? Or maybe just automotive journalists drooling at the thought of bigger burnouts?