GM to stop making Chevrolet Camaro due to EV push

General Motors, will stop making the current sixth generation of the brawny muscle car, Chevrolet Camaro, early next year as another generation may be in the works.

The future of the car, which is raced on NASCAR and other circuits, is a bit murky. GM says.

Scott Bell, vice president of Chevrolet, assured that their decision does not mark the end of the Camaro story,

The current sixth-generation Camaro, introduced in 2016, has done well on the racetrack, such as NASCAR but sales have been tailing off in recent years.

Chevrolet sold 72,705 of the current generation Camaro came out in 2016, but by the end of 2021, that number fell almost 70% to 21,893. It rebounded a bit last year to 24,652.

GM said the last of the 2024 model year of the cars will come off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan, in January.

Spokesman Trevor Thompkins said he can't say anything more about a future Camaro. “We're not saying anything specific right now,” he said.

GM has said it plans to sell only electric passenger vehicles worldwide by 2035..

According to Thompkins, GM and the organizations that oversee auto racing have an agreement that allows the sixth-generation vehicle to compete in races. According to him, the Camaro body will remain on the racetrack and GM will have components available.

In North America, GM will sell a collector's edition package of the 2024 Camaro RS and SS as well as a small quantity of the fast ZL-1 Camaros.

The timing of GM's move coincides with the beginning of the phase-out of conventional gas-powered muscle cars because of stringent government fuel economy rules, concerns over climate change, and an escalating push toward electric vehicles.