It’s one of those well-known “secrets” in the automotive community; GM has been building a new rear-wheel drive platform, codenamed Alpha, upon which a new baby Cadillac and the next-gen Camaro will be based. This platform will underpin the Cadillac ATS, due out sometime in 2012, and there have been plenty of rumors surrounding this as-yet unannounced vehicle.

The latest rumor from GM Inside News is that a planned convertible version of the ATS has been cancelled… leading us to wonder if this puts a future Camaro droptop in jeopardy as well.

The upcoming Alpha platform is supposed to be versatile enough for use as both a luxury car chassis, and a sports car. Initial rumors stated that there were three planned variants of the ATS; sedan, coupe, and convertible. But before the platform even debuted, rumors came out suggesting that the ATS was over-budget, over-weight, and over-developed. Now the latest rumor suggests that the convertible option has been axed, as sales projections were not high enough to justify the cost.

Does this mean a Camaro droptop version could be axed as well? It probably depends on how close the two vehicles are linked. Right now the ATS is projected to have just four and six-cylinder engine options, whereas the Camaro will almost certainly have a V8 under the hood. On the same token, if development costs were too high on a Cadillac, that doesn’t bode well for the much cheaper Chevy that is supposed to share the same platform. We still have plenty of time to wait before either the ATS or next-gen Camaro come out, but this was certainly an eyebrow raiser for us.
Can the Camaro succeed without a convertible option? Or is that a deal breaker for you?