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By Jimmy Dinsmore Jan 22 2020 - 11:17am

GM Considers Badging a Camaro-Like Mach-E Rival, While Ford Talks About Charger-Like Mustang

Fallout from the Mustang Mach-E reveal continues to keep things interesting in the muscle car segment as Ford, Chevy look to continue Mustang versus Camaro rivalry in some capacity. Imagine a Camaro SUV, which can become GM's answer to Ford Mach-E.
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Ford continues to shake up the muscle car segment. Internal discussions at Ford entail the possibility of a four-door Mustang pony car, similar to what Dodge has done with the Charger. Meanwhile, there’s speculation from cross-town rival General Motors that a Camaro-badged electric crossover is in the offing. Motor Trend speculated this possibility this week with renderings of what such a vehicle might look like.

This all started with the Mustang Mach-E when Ford shocked everyone by dropping the Mustang badge on their four-door, all-wheel drive small all-electric crossover. Rather than call it inspired by Mustang as they originally planned, they went all-in and called it the Mustang Mach-E with the pony badge right on the grille. A lot has been written about this, and I continue to be one of the biggest voices of dissent regarding this idea, but the dye is cast it appears on this, despite protests, petitions and anger from the Mustang community.

So, now will General Motors follow the same path and create such an electric crossover and call it the Camaro?

Sale of the Camaro have been waning over the last several years and Camaro now trails both segment-leading Mustang and Challenger within this niche segment. GM hasn’t discussed extending the Camaro beyond the 2023 model year. Unlike at Ford, where executives have committed to the Mustang in the future as a pony car. In fact, the Mustang, will be the last true car in Ford’s stable.

Meanwhile, the writing appears to be on the wall at GM and that the Camaro will cease to exist (as we know it). So, the question remains, will GM keep the name alive by dropping the name on an electrified crossover.

What would a Camaro SUV look like?
GM already has the Chevy Blazer which has similarities to the Camaro anyway. Some have disliked the look of the Blazer and felt it strayed too far from the history of that nameplate. Personally, I think the Blazer is one of the best-looking small crossovers on the road.

A muscley coupe-like roofline would be easy to do, as the Blazer already has a similar look. So it’s not unbelievable to think that GM would try to create a Mach-E rival and capitalize on the name of the Camaro. Since Ford kicked down that door, stirred up controversy and laid the path for this, it would make sense for GM to follow down that same path. Motor Trend speculates the name might be the Camaro E/28, capitalizing the Z-28 name.

This would surely send many into fits, but might actually work, and would certainly keep the Camaro name alive.

2019 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1 LE Grille

Will Ford create a four-door Mustang?
I’ve heard from people inside the Blue Oval and with inside knowledge that there’s talk about a four-door Mustang. Not the Mach-E, but a Dodge Charger-like four-door Mustang. This is nothing more than speculative at this point, but it’s being discussed under the guise of “Dodge did it successfully with the Challenger.”

It would seem anything and everything is in play when it comes to Mustang nowadays. The badge already sits on a four-door electric crossover, so why not create an entire family of Mustangs? I don’t think this idea is that unrealistic. I don’t want this to happen myself and feel that it will be throwing more salt into the wounds of the Mustang loyalists. But at this point, it could happen. I wonder if it’d be called the Mustang or maybe get some name like the Stallion?

Ford Mustang enthusiasts can at least take peace in knowing that Mustang (in some capacity) is part of the company’s future plans. The same thing can’t be said across town for the Camaro (barring the creation of a Camaro crossover).

See you in my latest story discussing the 2003 Ford Mustang Cobra as perhaps the greatest Mustang ever. Do you agree?

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. In addition to being a nationally syndicated automotive columnist, Jimmy has been published in a compilation book about children growing up with disabilities, where he shared his own very personal experience. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Find most of Jimmy's stories at Torque News Ford and Torque News Ford Mustang. Search Torque News Ford daily Mustang, F-150 and other Ford news stories from our expert automotive reporters.

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Comments

DeanMcManis wrote on January 24, 2020 - 4:22pm
When I first heard that the Blazer was going to use Camaro styling cues I was hoping that they would offer an electrified version of the new crossover, but then GM killed off all of their EREV/PHEV cars, and most all other economy models with the promise of an all electric future. But so far they only have the Bolt as their only EV offering. Years ago there were rumblings that the Corvette would separate from Chevy and become it's own brand. But like we've seen with the Mach-E, Marketing teams start drooling when the idea of expanding a well known brand comes up. Chevy was wise in NOT pissing off loyal Corvette buyers, and confusing potential new buyers by expanding the brand beyond the actual Corvette car. But it's a point now that Chevy (who has killed off the Camaro in the near past) could decide to leverage the Camaro brand into an electric crossover, now that Ford set a precedent with the Mach-E. The Blazer would have been a good candidate to electrify, and if they hadn't killed of the EREV, plug-in technology it would have been a worthy rival for the upcoming RAV4 Price PHEV. As per GM's previous announcements, Cadillac is supposed to be the "vangard" of GM's EVs, so we can expect to see the first crossover BEV to come from Cadillac, but their original plans were for a 2022 release. The good news is that their competition is releasing models THIS YEAR. Tesla looks like they will be bringing out their anticipated Model Y as early as next month. And Ford got a better than expected reaction after announcing the Mach-E, so we will see them on showroom floors this year as well. Plus the Toyota RAV4 Prime is also due this year, and even though it is not a BEV, it will be competing straight on with this upcoming batch of BEV crossovers. Which could include an entry from VW. 2019 saw the Audi E-tron EV crossover released, but like the Jaguar iPace, they are priced $20K+ more than these new BEV models. Now it has been long rumored that Chevy would be releasing their "EUV" Electric Utility Vehicle to the market, perhaps this year. But it was looking more like a plus-sized Bolt, rather than a performance EV crossover. But if they do design it to compete with the Model Y and Mach-E it is going to NEED dual motors, and a performance model (at least promised). But if Chevy does come out with a performance BEV crossover than can compete on EV range, performance, and importantly price, then it will be a hard sell to pitch a Cadillac version that costs $30K more afterwards. This is what killed the Cadillac ELR (with the Volt), and hurt Cadillac ATS sales (with the Camaro SS and ZL1). But it is an age old problem to balance having affordable and competitive models that sell in great numbers, and try and compete against your own "luxury" versions that are much more profitable, but sell in tiny numbers because they cost so much more, but don't offer than much more than the entry models.