We Told You Why Chevrolet Camaro Sales Are Plunging, But GM Just Cut Prices By 10%

Yes, Camaro sales figures. They’re not attractive, not what General Motors was accustomed to achieving when the reborn Camaro returned in 2009 as a fifth-generation Ford Mustang fighter. Not for the first time, we told you that story yesterday. Much as we all expected that the Camaro, in its final year, would be outsold by the high-production sixth-gen Mustang in its first year, 2015 is over. This is 2016. The Camaro is the new car. The Mustang could be resigned to Yesterday’s News status.

Instead, the Mustang is outselling the Camaro by huge margins, the Dodge Challenger has outsold the Camaro in each of the last three months, and Camaro volume is down 37 percent since May, year-over-year.

What’s an automaker to do?

“After @GoodCarBadCar posted Camaro sales figures on TTAC today, I received an email for 10% off MSRP all 2016 Camaros,” Chad Kirchner tweeted last night.

Despite in-house claims that GM isn’t concerned with market share and seeks only shareholder-pleasing profits, GM has decided the company needs to sell more Camaros. So the prices on remaining 2016 Camaros, of which there are roughly 17,000 in stock, have been chopped by 10 percent. (Screenshots from the email Kirchner received and from Chevrolet.com are included here.)

We suggested yesterday that much of the blame for the Camaro’s rapid downturn lies at the feet of the design department. To the casual eye, the 2016 Camaro looks exactly like the 2015 Camaro. Evolutionary styling changes were not the formula for GM used when launching all-new Camaros in the past, it shouldn’t be the formula now, either.

Poor visibility, a cramped interior, and early inventory which emphasized high-performance models for the Camaro faithful are negative factors, as well — factors which are clearly standing in the way despite the new Camaro’s performance credentials. GM, on the other hand, told us in the past that much of the Camaro’s volume decline can be traced back to GM’s fleet de-emphasis.

Regardless, the 2016 Camaro’s pricing scheme stands in the way of success. The Camaro’s $27,300 base price is 7 percent higher than the Mustang’s. The cheapest V8-engined Camaro costs $37,900, or $4,355 more than the base price of a Mustang GT.

Is a 10-percent cash back offer sufficient to clear out 2016 Camaros? Not surprisingly, there’s fine print. The deal, Chevrolet says, is “limited to 18% of select vehicles in dealer stock,” and is, “not available with special finance, lease or some other offers.”

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.