Chevrolet Camaro for UK

Epic sales failure : Steering wheel fitted on the left, ours are fitted on the right

Shame would have considered buying a proper Detroit Iron Chevrolet thats not shipped in from Korea the land of the Chevy fake..

Sorry Chevy nobody could not live with this in the UK it would be impossible to live with and LHD cars attract a massive insurance premium.

Still its a step in the right direction you are getting there, but this will be an epic sales failure, if only you could be bothered to fit the steering wheel on the R/H it might have been a great flagship could have changed the fortunes of Chevy UK rather than another epic fail.

Plato should have been British Touring Car Champion last year if only you had bother to fit a turbo to his Cruze.

Chevy produce great cars, then bugger it all up by not fitting a steering wheel on the right, or leaving a turbo out in motorsport.

Never mind you are getting there pleased to see the Camaro here, but you really do need to go the extra mile, try just a bit harder.

By Richie767 on 15 February, 2012, 5:02pm

Totally agree

This car looks awesome, surely every red blooded male/female would love to drive car like this. Shame they cant make them to fit in with uk requirements. I bet the SS version is a blast, pity about petrol prices.

By Chirpy on 16 February, 2012, 7:37am

The worst of it is...

...underneath the Transformers' party frock, it's an Aussie Holden in any case, so engineering the car for right-hand drive should be relatively simple.

By snappyuk on 16 February, 2012, 9:16am

Will get it in left or right hand drive?

By deviras on 16 February, 2012, 9:26am

Epic fail 2

When i saw the headlines i thought yes! But no chance mate - get the steering wheel on the right side.
You'd have to be off your head to buy this now, there is a vibrant grey market for left hand drive imports of all makes.
Chevy need to wake up, there are other right hand drive markets in the world (and they don't get raped with fuel duty) that would love this car.
....one of my cars is a Camaro, but won't be spending this much for a compromised drive..... off to Porsche.

By skyliner38 on 16 February, 2012, 9:52am

Wheel

Didn't they try and sell the Corvette and Camaro in the mid 90s in selected dealerships (along with the Suburban which I think they did make RHD).
The Vette and Camaro were LHD then and sold like a lead balloon.

By SirWiggum2 on 16 February, 2012, 10:19am

RHD vs LHD

Sorry, but where does it say it will only be available in LHD format? Am I missing something?

By putashovelinit on 16 February, 2012, 12:09pm

Sad to say it's LHD, come on Chevy you need to go that extra mile

Sorry to say all the news reports on the Camaro said Chevy were bringing it to the UK with LHD nightmare versions rather than what have could have been a brilliant flagship game changer for Chevy, l guess they don't care about us as we are in the minority in Europe with RHD drive.

If you go to Chevy UK's website all its model range from Spark to Orlando show pictures of RHD cars, the Camaro has just been added to the Chevy website all interior photo's are all LHD.

All we can hope is that Chevrolet Europes new CEO Susan Docherty (Nice to see a lady making it to the top at GM) can turn things around at Chevy Europe for the better while she is there, but l can't help she has just inherited a can of worms to run.

Only Chevy good point is the showrooms are superb some of the best, l live near the Plough Lane, Wimbledon South London it has a Ford - Vauxhall - Chevy dealership all yards from each other. Ford dealer looks dull and drab, Vauxhall showroom is good but nothing special, Chevy showroom is modern well lit warm and inviting easy the best of the three by miles,

l can't wait to go ant spend a few hours looking over the new Camaro in great detail every single inch of it. But because its LHD l won't be asking for a test drive or the brochure.

And that is the big problem at Chevy Europe they just can't get it right and probably why GM Europe posted a seven hundred and forty seven million dollar loss for Q4, because they don't listen to customers.

Why stick LHD in a Camaro for RHD driving UK?

Why build Chevy cars in Korea the most xenophobic nation on the planet, they buy nothing from the rest of the world, but want access to all markets, C4C programs etc.

Chevy would have been better setting up shop in China and sending them from there, at least the Chinese buy loads of British/American cars in return, who here does not own something from Apple, Dell or Hewlett that made by the Chinese. Good to see Chevy are thinking of moving Cruze production to Europe, and are at long realising 700 Chevy UK sales a month is not working. Better still why can't you export the Chevy's from the USA or build them in Britain the US's greatest allies by building them on a flexible trained workforce/production lines that can adjust to sales volumes like they do in Australia with the Holden Cruze Holden, Hommodes etc that is a very small market compared to the UK.

Great to see the fantastic Camaro coming to the UK Chevy, sad it's LHD and it won't be to long until you pull the plug on it after 6 or 7 sales a month.

Love your enthusiasm for the Camaro deviras, mine is the same but it ends at LHD l am very sad to say.

By Richie767 on 16 February, 2012, 3:19pm

RHD was in the plans...

Yes, the engineering for this car was done by Holden and they did engineer it for both LHD and NATIVE RHD, not a conversion process. Chevy has not started RHD production on this vehicle yet for some unknown reason - it might be that there is not a massive global demand for the car as expected and the return on the RHD production costs might not be justifiable. However, there have been a few cars that were originally sold in the UK market as LHD before the RHD versions were ready to satisfy early demand.

And yes, the car is currently sold in the Chinese and Korean markets.

The next release of the Camaro's competitor, the Ford Mustang, is also being engineered for native RHD, as well as for global size/engines and not just for North America as Ford's marketing team is aware that NA is not the center of the Universe and plan on releasing the RHD versions upon launch in RHD markets.

By addison1062 on 16 February, 2012, 6:48pm

Thanks for the update on the Mustang Addison1062

Absolutely love the Mustang as well, l actually prefer it to the Camaro, sorry Chevy guys l know the rivalry there is between the Camaro guys and Stang guys in Detroit, its as intense as Rangers/Celtic LiverpoolEverton Catholics and Protestants rivalry.

Will definitely purchase a Stang if it ever turns up in the UK in the RHD form, the Capri was a fantastic seller in the UK was always in the UK top 10 something that no other sports car ever achieved here, we had the Puma, Cougar & Probe no of them ever made it into our top 10 best sellers list and were a relative sales flops for Ford.

The Mustang will definitely be a big hit for Ford, it will pick up where the Capri left off for Ford can keep it British fuel price relevant, but l would still buy a 5.0 Stang as l only commute 16 miles a day to work.

Still not heard anything yet concrete or officially announced from Ford yet about bringing the Stang to Europe myself, but have the money in the bank sitting on the sidelines doing nothing ready to buy one if it arrived.

Let hope we get the Mustang with IRS on the Stangs 50th Birthday Party that really would be the icing on the cake in the UK.

By Richie767 on 16 February, 2012, 9:04pm

Why oh why

The steering wheel being on the wrong side isn't an issue for me, what is is the fact there will be no other engine option than the V8, why if they are trying to push this car why not bring an engine that average people might actually buy? I drove one last year for a couple of days and the V6 was plenty big enough, come on GM use your nouse, I would have one tomorrow if the smaller engine was available. Also I saw aprogramme on tv the other day about the factory and it was from Canada not Korea or is it they are built there for other world markets?

By 1HARVEY2 on 17 February, 2012, 8:42am

Gotta agree 1HARVEY2 V6 would be more UK fuel price relevant.

Personally l would go for the v8 because l only drive 16 to 20 miles per day, but l think Chevy would better off setting the bar a bit lower for the UK and go with the v6 to create more sales.

Chevy UK import all its cars from the Korean made ex Daewoo factory, Korea are is a very xenophobic nation only buy Korean, can't help but think Chevy made a big mistake they should have shipped them in from China only if they wanted to build Chevys at affordable prices, China who is a more open massive market buy millions of British/American cars chances are your Apple, Dell, Hewlett Packard etc computer or phone you are using was made there.

Even better still would love to buy some Detroit iron like the Camaro or Mustang, Why can't we have the American made Aveo, Cruze, Captiva, Spark or Orlando (All shipped in from Korea) which would help the trillion US trade deficit high unemployment, yes l would buy my wife a new American made Spark, but would never buy a Korean Spark., Why you might ask? Because the USA has always been our closest allie and friend.

Europe is one of the few biggest markets in the world, and yet not one Chevy is built here, the Chevy Cruze is built all over the world, and is a top seller where ever it is made. Australia is a very small market yet it gets it's own Chevy production lines. UK is a massive market compared to Australia why can't Chevy create a plant here in the UK that uses a flexible workforce that can multitask on assembling a few models and match up supply to demand. If Chevy done this they would very soon rise to the top of the British sales chart like the Cruze No2 Commodere No1 best sellers in Australia in 2011. Ford also produce a lot of vehicles in Australia with a flexible workforce the Aussie made Falcon & Territory are both top sellers.

The way Opel are shaping up in Europe at the moment losing billions every year, l can't help but think that Opels days are numbered they could end up getting replace by Louis Chevrolets cars that carry the European Swiss cross on every car. Would buy my wife a Cruze if it was made in Europe.

What always worked best for Ford & GM in Europe in the past and created massive profits rather than huge losses, was let the Germans build the entire LHD line-ups and the UK build the entire RHD line-ups for Europe. Sad to say Fords UK market share has fallen from 32% in the late 70's down to 12% today even though they are still No1 in the UK.

By Richie767 on 17 February, 2012, 2:31pm

The Camaro is indeed built in Canada and Canada only. So the UK cars DO come from North America.

The next Mustang will have IRS - again, Ford is going to be making this car for all markets now and know that the non-IRS setup just won't cut it elsewhere. The current generation live-axle is the last of it's kind.

The global mustangs are getting a turbo four as their entry level engine. The six will be the global top offering, with the exception of special models, such as the Boss 302.

By addison1062 on 17 February, 2012, 4:28pm

Thanks for info again info again Addison1062, we get to here very little about whats going on here at the moment Ford are keeping their cards held close to their chest which is understandable.

Problem with Chevy UK at the moment with their 700 UK sales a month is that nobody is interest in their all Korean made line up, now with the new addition of the first non-Korean North American LHD Camaro l can't see Chevy UK sales growing to more than 701 a month as nobody in their right mind would entertain buying a LHD car in the UK.

Chevy have several Cruze production line dotted around the globe they can bother to install one in Australia where the population/buyers is low.

Australia population - 22 million
Has a Cruze production line: YES
Sale chart position 2011 : No2.

UK population - 60 million
Has a Cruze production line - NO
Sales chart position : Nowhere

USA population 313 - million
Has a Cruze production line: Yes
USA sales chart position 2011 : No10
USA Cruze 231,000 sales

Europe population - 823 million
Has a Cruze production line : No
European sales chart position 2011 : Nowhere.

Chinese Population 1.3 billion
Has Cruze production line : Yes
China sales chart position : No3
Cruze sales numbers 2011 : 221,000

Do you think 5 to 6 LHD Camaro sales a month in the UK will add much to Chevy UK poor sales numbers of 700 a month?

Maybe we need some Chevy production lines here built in the UK or Europe? As we do a quite a bigger population than places like Australia that would warranty building a production line here.

Fords Mustang will be a big sales hit in Europe, it will hit the ground running so to speak with RHD.

By Richie767 on 17 February, 2012, 5:59pm

RHD Camaro.

The Oshawa plant is geared to build RHD Camaro's it got the green light when Bob Lutz was in charge,after he retired other G.M. executives said it would cost too much for the low volume of RHD cars.Personally l think that was a big mistake,another mistake is not to sell the 300+V6 motor in Europe.I've achieved 36-37mpg with the V6 motor on numerous occasions.Incidently this Australian engineered and Canadian built car is one of the finest built 2+2s anywhere for the money and for really high performance enthusiast the ZLI is one formidable performance road car putting out 580hp with a top speed of 297 KMS and with it,s sophisticated suspension did the Nurburgring track in 7mins-41.27sec. not bad for a Chevy hey.

By vespass on 18 February, 2012, 5:39pm

Thanks for the insight vespass, its about time the world standardised what side of the car the steering wheel should be fitted?

It's 2012 and the worlds still in a mess, its about time the governments of the world all got together with the auto industry thrashed this problem out in a debate, then had a voted on what side of the road the world should drive on, l would quite happily go along with the winner which probably be LHD as it is used more widely.

We are missing out on a lot of the good stuff, more choice, when you went on holiday abroad where they drive on the other side of the road anxiety and road safety would be improved, it would only benefit the auto industry with the extra cost burden of two designs removed if they only had to fit the steering wheel to one side of the car, open up new markets.

Chevy have a lot of good vehicles Stateside similar to the Volt. VIA Motors E-REV's Silverado, SUV and Vans that would sell like hotcakes here, they would break a lot of tax rules in London like Low Emmision Zone & Congestion charges but as you say vespass Chevy won't do RHD for the UK, and nobody here will entertain even think about buying LHD.

Still its not all doom and gloom, Ford will offer the Mustang in both LHD & RHD forms in Europe, it's the best sports car to be offered here since the Capri, it sold very well in europe the Mk1 Capri German Cologne & British Halewood production lines produced on average 213,000 Capri's every year from 1970-75 which was outstanding well worth the effort.

I think Ford will do very well with the LHD & RHD Mustang in Europe as most of the Capri's were brouht in the UK, Chevy LHD Camaro will get its UK plug pulled within a year or two years and probably won't sell we due to the big v8 not being fuel price/EU emissions tax laws friendly.

Would love the the big block v8 Chevy Camaro, the 7:41:27 time around the ring was absolutely awesome, funny thing is l always drive within speed limits drive safely on public roads, but would love to have something like the Camaro where you can take out for few track days a year, and know at the same time know that its superb brakes will stop stop you in an instant if a child walks out in front of the car or that tractor thats caused a long queue & hold up can be overtaken safely with the superb acceleration of the Camaro's (Only bad point is the idiots that will carve, cut you up in a red rev lined Aveo & Saxo's thinking they are Jackie Stewart trying to goad you into a race in the Camaro, that would piss me off. l just ignore them totally, you normally see them in a ditch or with a cloud of blue exhaust smoke or bonnet up with clouds of white smoke pouring out the head/rad in a couple of miles down the road).

By Richie767 on 19 February, 2012, 11:25am

Richie767 -you won't ever get unity on which side of the road to drive on, it's far too late to change now. Maybe there's a handful of African countries that could change without too much cost, but the expense of changing over in Japan, India (who drive on both sides anyway), the UK is beyond consideration. Bear in mind, it would be Britain that would have to change, not everyone else.

By PedroConejo on 20 February, 2012, 10:23am

Just ordered!

Placed my order for the beast today, and will have my car ready for the summer....

Choosing the colour was the hardest thing but decided the 45th edition looked the part.

the looks of this car are immense and I am happy knowing that not every street corner will have one.

oooo and I can't wait to hear that V8 burble every morning...

By tpxm2 on 20 February, 2012, 6:01pm

v8 Burble awesome, dont tempt me.

Yo swine tpxm2 :( you totally pissed me off now, sound of a v8 priceless.

Congratulations tpxm2 well done man. Will definitely have a good look at the Camaro but won't buy one ever until Chevy fit the steering wheel on the right side, but hopefully Ford shall be along with the Mustangs :) 50th Birthday party with a RHD version.

Gotta agree with you PedroConejo UNITY no chance, l can't ever see it happening in the UK. Virgin Captains sit on the left in a Boeing 747 but thank God their are no two-way street runways. Maybe we could at long last get something out of the EU to pay for some unifying roads in Europe, it would create a lot of jobs, and maybe a few lost political jobs along the way.

Mmmm would be nice though l could import a nice Ford Raptor pick-up and a nice v8 Stang rather drive eternal Euro bland dull boredom.

By Richie767 on 21 February, 2012, 11:39am