The Chevrolet SS is one of those weird cars. It's beloved by enthusiasts, a vehicle that we've begged and pleaded for in the United States ever since the Pontiac G8 was killed off. But like so many vehicles that were sold thanks to the crowing of the enthusiast public, its sales are mediocre. In the SS' best year, 2015, only 2,895 were sold. With that in mind, General Motors would be well within its rights to kill this big, rear-drive, V8-only sedan. But according to Chevrolet Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser, it sounds like that might not happen.
"It sells what it's supposed to," Oppenheiser told Australia's Car Advice at the 2016 New York Auto Show. "And we haven't announced an end date to it, so we're just...we know that there are some decisions made on the Zeta [platform], that are imminent, and right now we're just focused on the new 2017 model, which is great."
That the lack of an end date is interesting for a few reasons – the car the SS is based on, the Holden VF Commodore, is rapidly approaching its 2017 expiration date. That's when local production of General Motors' Australian subsidiary will finally shut down. And since the SS is built in Elizabeth, South Australia, alongside the Commodore, it's telling that Chevy has shown no sign of slowing down with the SS. But more than that, it was Oppenheiser's response to Car Advice's question about the SS' lack of an end date, suggesting that the death of the VF Commodore would be a good place to stop, that raised some eyebrows.
"I didn't say we were going out," Oppenheiser said, before setting about evading questions about a full-size, V8-powered, rear-drive global sedan that could replace the current SS. "I don't know that either. I'm not at liberty [to say]. I'm going to leave you hanging,"
Based on those responses, we still can't be sure Chevy will get a replacement when the SS finally goes out of production. At the very least, though, it sounds like the company is flirting with the idea of keeping this particular arrow in its quiver.
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"It sells what it's supposed to," Oppenheiser told Australia's Car Advice at the 2016 New York Auto Show. "And we haven't announced an end date to it, so we're just...we know that there are some decisions made on the Zeta [platform], that are imminent, and right now we're just focused on the new 2017 model, which is great."
That the lack of an end date is interesting for a few reasons – the car the SS is based on, the Holden VF Commodore, is rapidly approaching its 2017 expiration date. That's when local production of General Motors' Australian subsidiary will finally shut down. And since the SS is built in Elizabeth, South Australia, alongside the Commodore, it's telling that Chevy has shown no sign of slowing down with the SS. But more than that, it was Oppenheiser's response to Car Advice's question about the SS' lack of an end date, suggesting that the death of the VF Commodore would be a good place to stop, that raised some eyebrows.
"I didn't say we were going out," Oppenheiser said, before setting about evading questions about a full-size, V8-powered, rear-drive global sedan that could replace the current SS. "I don't know that either. I'm not at liberty [to say]. I'm going to leave you hanging,"
Based on those responses, we still can't be sure Chevy will get a replacement when the SS finally goes out of production. At the very least, though, it sounds like the company is flirting with the idea of keeping this particular arrow in its quiver.
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