Chevrolet Camaro Launch Threatened by Supplier's C11

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Reuters (and everyone else) reports that GM is suing bankrupt parts maker Cadence Innovation to recover the bits it needs to build/launch the new Chevrolet Camaro. Both more and less specifically, Cadence makes consoles, door panels and “other parts.” GM wants all of it, bad. So they’re suing, asking a Delaware Court for permission to access Cadence’s factory to recover the necessary tooling and parts to craft their Canadian retro-muscle car. “Even one day’s disruption in supply of certain Component Parts could cause a shutdown of GM assembly operations,” The General’s lawsuit proclaims, using German capitalization to emphasize the seriousness of their demands. A refusal to do so would end up “disrupting not only GM’s business, but the operations of countless suppliers, dealers, customers, and other stakeholders.” Countless? That’s a lot, right? And once they’re being both vague and alarmist, GM said the damages from Cadence’s refusal to surrender machines and parts “would be substantial, but difficult, if not impossible to calculate.” GM reckons it needs the parts-making machines by January 12th. Or a plague of locusts will descend upon the earth and boils will fester on muscle car collectors’ butts. But there’s more to this story than first meets the, uh, eye…

GM court papers reveal that it had an “accommodation agreement” with Cadence requiring the auto-parts supplier to continue to manufacture the Camaro parts and provide tooling and equipment for same. So, one wonders what happened to that “working relationship.” Perhaps, perchance, there’s a little problem with GM’s payment schedule? You know, as in money’s too tight too mention? Did Cadence, bankrupt though it may be, demand cash-on-the-nail? Did GM refuse to honor IT’S side of the bargain?

We’ll know more when we hear Cadence’s side of the story. Meanwhile, WHAT WILL GM DO WITHOUT A CAMARO TO SELL? Same thing they’ve been doing since they revealed the concept in 2006: hype the Hell out of it.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Lokki Lokki on Dec 30, 2008

    The Camaro is a necessary product for GM right now. It doesn't really matter whether it sells or not (although I think it will sell better than the Challenger but not as well as the Mustang). It's a showroom traffic builder and that's what the Chevy Dealers need. People will come in to look at the Camaro - just to see it. That will give the salesmen a chance to talk to people about what great values on other vehicles are available and how easy it is to get credit,etc. on them.

  • KixStart KixStart on Dec 30, 2008

    our72gto, How did you examine the NEW CAMARO in detail? Lokki, The success of Honda and Toyota should tell you that halo cars are unnecessary. Unless the Camaro would be profitable in its own right, the project should not exist. I don't see how it can be profitable. They killed the old Camaro because of poor sales. There's plenty of competition and it's already looking weak. Mustang sales have been flat or falling for a while and Challenger sales seem, at best, uninspiring. Camaro volumes will be low and, if I understand correctly, there's no platform mates to share the development costs and I'd bet a quarter that the assembly line won't be multi-purpose. Anyway, I think it's ugly.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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