What's Up With the Chevrolet Camaro Delay?
When I read Autoblog’s post on the one-month delay to production of the new Camaro, I decided not to blog it. AB said a notice had been sent to Bow Tie dealers pinning the delay on their desire to assure quality control. I manually lowered my arched eyebrow and got on with the other business of the day. But now, scanning Automotive News [AN, sub], it seems that the delay isn’t quite as straight forward as I thought it wasn’t. “It’s due to a variety of factors that I’m not going to get into, but it’s nothing to be concerned about,” [GM spinmeister Terrance “I’m not a Dickens character”] Rhadigan said. “We’re still going to build every one we can, and we’re excited to get them out.” In a strange turn of events, AN fingers a previous flagged supplier “issue”– despite GM’s denial. “Automotive News reported in late December that GM is suing Cadence Innovation, a supplier of interior parts that is liquidating, to get machines and parts needed to make the Camaro. GM provided equipment to the supplier to make the Camaro parts, a standard industry practice. GM has said if it didn’t get the production equipment back by Jan. 12, the start of Camaro production would be delayed. Rhadigan said the postponement isn’t connected to the Cadence dispute.” So why mention it? Is AN beginning to lose patience with GM?
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There's no way it will only be a month IMO. I feel sorry for all the fanboys who put down deposits and are waiting. Pop open a beer fellas, it's going to be a while.
Does this mean I shouldn't camp out at the Chevy dealers front door? I had my sleeping bag and thermal underwear all laid out. I also just got delivery of my Esteban limited edition Camaro guitar. Should I return it or put it on e-bay? Unfortunately I am not kidding. I love Camaro's and my first car was a 68 with a powerslide I mean glide. I do believe this car will do better then every one thinks. Especially if the gas prices are where they are now during launch and post launch!
Assuming that the Camaro depends on a big first-year "pop" (with a large proportion of expensive and profitable top-line models) to compensate for an expected sharp roll-off in sales over the remaining life of the vehicle, then GM may not be all that interested in rushing it into a market where it's just about guaranteed to produce underwhelming sales. Regardless, rumors out of Warren say that there are several issues being ironed out with Camaro. Seeing as how this is the first Zeta being built in N/A, this shouldn't be a surprise.