Lambo Blogging: Chevrolet Considers More Competitive Price Points for Camaro

The Chevrolet Camaro may be one of the most popular sports cars, but sales are trailing behind the Ford Mustang so far this year. To bolster sales and make the Camaro more competitive against rivals, General Motors is reconsidering build options and price points for the sports car.

According to product boss Mark Reuss, GM could rework prices at the lower and higher ends of the Camaro range. He says the Mustang and some of the Camaro’s other rivals “will have a lower base price and that’s an opportunity for us probably.”

“I think we’ve got opportunities at the very low end of the Camaro range and some remix of some of the V-8 options on it so we don’t force people to buy all the options with a V-8, just to get a V-8,” Reuss said at the press unveiling of the Camaro ZL1 NASCAR Cup racer, reports Automotive News.

Prices for the base 2017 and 2018 Camaro coupe start at $26,900, and these models come with a 2.0-liter turbo-four engine making 275 hp. Comparatively, the 2017 Mustang starts at $26,085 and features a 3.6-liter V-6 good for 300 ponies. The revamped 2018 Mustang, coming out this fall, gets a base 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder that makes 310 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, and will start at $26,485. A base 2017 Dodge Challenger, however, is more expensive than the Camaro. It runs $28,090 with a 3.6-liter V-6 making 305 hp.

When equipped with the V-8, the 2018 Camaro starts at $37,995. That price is way ahead of the Mustang GT, which starts at $34,095, or $35,995 for the 2018 model year. It’s also more expensive than the Challenger R/T, priced from $34,090.

The Mustang leads the way in terms of sales. Ford moved 50,814 Mustangs from dealer lots through July, ahead of 41,280 sales for the Camaro. The Dodge Challenger is coming up on the Camaro’s tail with sales of 41,243 during the first seven months.

If you look at it another way, the Camaro is actually doing pretty well. Camaro sales dropped just 2.5 percent through July, while Mustang sales were down a whopping 30 percent. Challenger sales have increased about 3 percent.

Reuss declined to comment when we can expect some of these possible pricing changes for the Camaro.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)