It’s safe to say the general public loves The 5th generation Camaro. Since its launch in 2009 the Camaro has stormed on the scene and is distancing itself in sales over the Mustang and Challenger. In May alone, the Camaro sold 9,451 units which actually was a 1,400 decrease from the previous month, but still almost 3,000 units more than the Mustang and almost 6,000 over the Challenger. For 2011 Chevrolet offered the new convertible option for Camaro buyers.
The car was met with a lot of praise from the public as it was very appealing, but “experts” who have reviewed the 2011 Camaro have given it less than stellar reviews. A perfect example of this is Kelley Blue Book’s review where they gave the car a 5.6 out of 10. But interestingly enough, directly below that review their is a consumer review section. After 215 reviews consumers have given the Camaro a 4.6 out of 5, which if you do the math is the same as 9.2 out of 10. How can the experts be so hard on this car, and the consumers love it so much?
A recent review by Business Week seems to follow the same theme. Jason Harper’s review is titled “Having a good time in the topless Camaro”, and although he does have some kind words for the V6 2LT convertible. He comes across harsh on the 426hp 2SS Camaro.”Those King Arthur movies where the knights pull down their visors just before they commence jousting, leaving them nothing but a narrow slit to see through? Yeah, it’s like that.”
In his defense, he says in the story that the week he drove the SS it was raining and he couldn’t drive the SS with the top down. We would have been upset also if we were given the opportunity to drive the 426 horsepower convertible beast, and then it rained all week. But then he unleashes a huge insult to the SS “…All which might have been forgivable if the SS’ 426 horses gave me half as much joy as the Mustang GT’s 412 did. Muscle cars are impractical by definition, so it’s really about having a tire-shredding good time.” He continues in the story, “I had a few moments of fun with the SS. But mostly not. The weight of that V-8 in the schnoz upsets any hope of poise.”
Poise? But isn’t driving a muscle car all “about having a tire-shredding good time”? So with all these “experts” negative reviews on the Camaro what should Chevrolet do?… Absolutely nothing! The Camaro has not been outsold by the Mustang since October of 2010, although the Mustangs have come close on a couple occasions. So say what you will about the Camaro, but the facts don’t lie – The consumers love it!
What’s interesting is business week has reviewed the 2011 Camaro convertible back in March and gave it a completely different review, listen how the author Thane Peterson closed out his review: “When the new hardtop Camaro first came out, I predicted the car would not only outsell the Mustang, but would one day be considered a classic. Same goes for the new Camaro convertible.”
June numbers will be released soon, and it will be interesting to see if Chevrolet can continue on their success. You can read the most recent review by business week here.