Current-generation Chevrolet Camaro could soldier on until 2026

Chevrolet's sixth-generation Camaro will live to celebrate its 11th birthday, a recent report claims. Its life cycle has been allegedly extended to 2026, so its successor — if it gets one — might not arrive until the 2027 model year.

Citing anonymous sources, Australian magazine Wheels reported that Chevrolet has added two years to the Camaro's lease on life. It was originally scheduled to retire in 2024, meaning we likely would have seen the seventh-generation model in showrooms during the 2025 model year at the earliest. If the source is right, the last sixth-generation Camaro will roar off the assembly line about 11 years after the model made its debut.

Even at 11, the Camaro won't exactly be ancient; the second, third, and fourth generations of the pony car remained in production for about a decade, too. Nissan still sells the 370Z it introduced in 2008 as a 2009 model, though a replacement is tentatively due out in 2021. Toyota's Land Cruiser and Sequoia both turned 13 in 2020.

Enthusiasts should be more concerned with what's next than with the Camaro's age. In 2019, insiders familiar with the contents of Chevrolet's future product pipeline said the seventh-generation car's development program had been suspended, and that the nameplate would again be consigned to the automotive dust bin once the current model retires. One way to interpret the unverified report is that keeping the Camaro around for a little longer is a way to avoid developing a successor, which would confirm that the nameplate's future looks dim.

Chevrolet hasn't commented on the report, and it hasn't revealed what it has in store for the Camaro. If the timeline is accurate, we expect the Camaro will receive at least one major overhaul before going away.

Although it's not shockingly old, and it was last refreshed for the 2020 model year, the Camaro lags behind its main rivals on the sales chart. Chevrolet sold 48,265 units in 2019. Ford led the segment by selling 72,489 examples of the Mustang, while 60,997 enthusiasts took home a Dodge Challenger. Ford and Dodge have attempted to keep buyers interested by releasing new, often heritage-inspired variants of their coupes, like the Mach 1 and the Super Stock, but the Camaro has received comparatively minor updates. 2021 brought more connectivity features, minor equipment changes, and an option package named Wild Cherry Design.

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