General Motors managed to keep the lead as America's largest overall automaker – Toyota sold over 2.24 million units in the US, but GM totaled almost 2.6 million.
Ford was third behind them with almost 2 million vehicles – and that's with just one passenger car nameplate at dealerships, the S650 seventh-generation Mustang. In fact, the pony car is getting its life easier after soundly beating the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro in 2023 – both archrivals ceased production last December, and only the Charger is coming back with a new generation sporting (alleged) 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six turbo mills or adopting the EV lifestyle.
Toyota doesn't really fear the mighty Mustang because its GR Supra is only a niche proposition. Still, the family has other sports cars – GR86 and GR Corolla – that are selling better. However, General Motors should start thinking about a way to combat the absence of the Camaro from the lineup because the C8 Corvette is way too costly to fight off the Mustang at $68,300 for the 495-hp Stingray.
No worries, the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators are always ready and eager to please. The former will try to see in advance when the Camaro nameplate will return, while the latter already has a solution for the predicament. For example, some think Chevrolet needs to look back and choose a legendary nameplate to revive.
For instance, a lot of folks would love to see the Chevy Impala SS make a comeback to join the sedan roster alongside the affordable $25k Malibu mid-size four-door saloon. On the contrary, others want something competing directly with the S650 seventh-generation 2024 Mustang – such as a Chevelle muscle car!
Recently, the good folks from the TheAutoReport channel on YouTube have imagined the potential revival of the classic Chevelle - and this time, they're doing the Convertible, too. More precisely, not long ago, their resident pixel master updated the 1960s and 1970s looks of the old-school Chevelle two-door coupe according to modern desiderates – all without upsetting fans of the original series.
On this occasion, though, the channel's CGI expert dared to blend in even more Camaro DNA and maybe overdosed on it a little bit. Still, the hypothetical Chevelle Convertible looks ready to fight the 2024 Mustang Convertible with a bit of help from AI software. By the way, the latter is available for the 2024 model year starting with the EcoBoost Convertible from $39k, followed by the EcoBoost Premium Convertible ($41,495), and the v8-powered GT Premium Convertible starting at $52,730.
So, do you think that GM's corner office head honchos will allow Chevrolet to rebuild its pony and muscle car legacy now that the Camaro is gone with something to fight the upcoming Dodge Charger EV or with a potential revival of one of their popular nameplates like the Impala or Chevelle?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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