The Motor Report Auto News Blog

Latest news from General Motors is that its on-going money woes has put the kybosh on the topless Camaro - at least for the moment. GM has explained that the associated costs, and expected returns, are not viable given the company’s current financial position (deep, deep in the poo).

At this stage plans have been put on hold until next year but given that Chrysler has completely axed plans for a Dodge Challenger convertible (citing costs and lack of demand), the Camaro convertible may never see light of day.

You would think that taking the roof off would be a relatively simple and inexpensive exercise. The problem for convertibles is the extra chassis strengthening and re-engineering required, then the exhaustive testing necessary (so that they aren’t all floppy in the body) that puts the development costs through the… er… roof.

We better get used to it. The current global uncertainty is likely to mean we’ll regularly be hearing of production delays and model cancellations. We’d be more than happy to take this latest news in our stride though, if GM would hurry up and get the current Camaro into local dealerships. Hurry up already!