Automotive Faqs

Consumers and automotive journalists are excited about the return of Camaro. Yet, there is concern that GM may have made yet another crucial mistake. After all we may love the vehicle, but when it comes to purchasing the vehicle…is it possible for most people? The majority of society are unable to afford vehicles with such a high price range.

Now granted, the new Camaro is no six-figure vehicle, but it is a double-digit gas hog. That comes with the big V-8 (and big V-6, in base models) under its hood. With gas rising to $3 per gallon, topping off the 20-something gallon tank of a V-8 muscle car will run you about $70. And that will last you about a week, maybe. So you are talking about $300 bucks per month for fuel.

How many buyers in the 21-35 age bracket (the target demographic for V-8 muscle cars) can handle $300 for gas each month, on top of the cost to insure a notorious hell-raiser and ticket-generator? Figure annual operating costs for the typical male driver, about 30 years old, at about $5,000 or so. That’s $3,600 for gas plus an insurance bill around $1,500, which is probably lowballing it.

And it’s not just buyers who have to worry about MPGs. Government fuel economy requirements (CAFE) are going up to 35 mpg for passenger cars. That may mean a “Gas guzzler” fine for the 20-something MPG Z28. Tack that extra grand onto the sticker price, and watch GM’s “fleet average” CAFE numbers fall. Even the base V-6 car is not going to be a star, fuel-efficiency wise, not when compared with smaller, lighter import sport compacts that can deliver equivalent (or better) performance with just a four-cylinder engine. No gas guzzler levies for them, either.

And unlike a 15 mpg SUV, the pending Camaro (like all Camaros before it) isn’t even plausibly useful, with its clown car trunk and for show-only rear seats. So it comes down to what you might call an “indulgence purchase”, but isn’t that what the Corvette’s already there for? For the Average Joe target demographic, meanwhile, the car’s profligate ways present an unpleasant, perhaps insurmountable, impediment. GM needs to step back and give this some thought. Because for the ‘08 Camaro to succeed, it must sell in pretty large numbers. And that requires Average people.

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