Chevrolet may not sell the Camaro in Australia, but the Supercars program will be key to General Motors’ plans Down Under. Image: Mark Horsburgh
General Motors Australia will use its new Chevrolet Racing Supercars program to strengthen its specialty vehicles operation as it seeks to reinvent itself after Holden.
GM Australia is the umbrella brand that includes GMSV, AC Delco Service, Holden Certified Service and the recently launched Holden Heritage. Chevrolet Racing was recently featured at Repco Bathurst 1000 with the unveiling of the Gen3 Camaro, effectively replacing Holden Motorsport.
As previously reported on Speedcafe, GM has no plans to sell the Camaro locally, with GMSV instead focusing on the Corvette and Silverado models, so the launch of the Camaro was designed to promote the Chevrolet brand.
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Speaking to Torquecafe, Marc Ebolo, Managing Director of General Motors Australia and New Zealand, elaborated and said it will enable the company to promote its diverse business interests locally. The Triple Eight Race Engineering entries already bear both GMSV and AC Delco branding, and Ebolo said GM will be heavily involved in supercars in 2022 and beyond to help sell more Corvettes and Silverados.
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Both models were featured prominently in Bathurst when GMSV tried to tap into the passionate motorsport fan base.
“We have a lot of plans,” said Ebolo. “We had a lot of plans this year that COVID hurt. We have many plans for the future. I can honestly tell you that we see motorsport as such an important pillar of our business and as such an important vehicle to foster passion for all of our brands. “
The decision to drive the Camaro at a time when Supercars are pushing the “road relevance” message for Gen3 has drawn some criticism, but Ebolo said it was vital for GM to be involved in Supercars racing while trying to switch from Holden to GMSV and its Chevrolet products.
“I think it’s important that we align with the US, they just launched their Camaro in NASCAR,” he said. “We’re starting to see this alignment between our brands and our markets. As a motorsport entry, a focused motorsport entry, we believe that the look, feel and passion of this car will spark incredible enthusiasm for all of our brands. “
He added: “It is very important that we know how strong motorsport is in terms of the passion and support it has for all of our businesses. We believe that this is an absolute core pillar of our future business. “
The future of the Camaro as a street car remains uncertain, however, as the GM headquarters in Detroit does not commit to plans beyond the current model. There have been reports that it could fall as early as 2023, but more likely by model year 2025.
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Even so, Chris Payne, GMSV’s Marketing Manager at GMSV, has no problem driving the likely short-lived model.
“Not at all,” said Payne. “We’ll deal with the future and what’s to come, but for now we’re looking at supercars in 2023.”
It is unclear which, if any, Chevrolet model could replace the Camaro in supercars, should it be discontinued in 2025. Chevrolet is reportedly going to drop its Impala sedan and focus on SUVs and utens in the future.
With the Holden Commodore ZB continuing after its demise, the most likely scenario is that teams using the Camaro from 2023 will be in service for up to five seasons before needing to be replaced, and the sport will last until 2028.
Meanwhile, GMSV plans to launch the Corvette Z06 in 2022 while sales of the Silverado 1500 and 2500 Heavy-Duty remain stable.
