Muscle car wars 2009

Despite demands for greater fuel economy, there's still a market for big-power performance.

Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Camaro convertible concept
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro won't be hitting the market until early 2009, about six months after Chrysler launches its Challenger.

GM isn't saying yet what engine options the Camaro will initially have, but, like the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang, it will ultimately be available with smaller V6s, not just big V8s.

"It's not just a V8 muscle car," said Camaro marketing manager John Fitzpatrick "It's not just about straight-line power"

The big V8 engines will be the headline feature just as they always have been for cars like this. But GM expects expects most Camaros it sells will be fitted with V6 engines. While buyers might like its performance-car looks, many won't really want the performance car fuel-economy or the performance car insurance premiums.

So the damage to GM's overall fuel economy numbers will be relatively small because cost considerations will keep most customers out of the thirstiest versions of these cars. In reality, most Camaros and Challengers sold will probably have fuel economy similar to other cars their size.


Madness?

Challenger

Camaro

Shelby

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.