New Camaro Z/28… Maybe, Maybe Not

As Motor Trend reports, here is what the Z/28 version of the Camaro will look like:

That is… if GM builds it. The car is on hold, and it is questionable whether a company in the trouble GM is in, begging for help, should build such a car.

I tend to agree. Although I am a massive Camaro fan, and would love this baby in my garage, GM needs to stick to getting a firmer grip on building a better product line, not a lone supercar.

The Camaro is an important car. It should help drive traffic to the showrooms. The Camaro should be a bit of a halo car to get people in the dealership, even if they end up buying something else.

GM has lost sight of this. In the hey day of the 60s it was common for someone to go to a dealership to look at a Camaro or Corvette and buy a Chevelle or Nova with the same engine. A more practical car with most of the passion of the car they wanted. GM doesn’t do this anymore. They have left the Camaro and Corvette to be niche market vehicles. Nobody looks at a Camaro and buys a Malibu anymore.

This 550+ hp Camaro will be priced so that only the rich can afford it, especially when greedy dealers jack the price up another $10-20K. Chevrolet is supposed to be the bargain brand of GM. Oops!

Building a Super Camaro will not help sales of more traditional cars. However, the Camaro itself as a V-6 and V-8 coupe are important for the image of Chevrolet. The super versions should wait until the company is on stronger ground… assuming it survives at all.

No Interest Deduction for Auto Purchases

Automotive News in this article just reported:

The final stimulus bill — a compromise between House and Senate negotiators — makes only sales and excise taxes deductible. The loan interest provision was dropped, a spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Mikulski confirmed today.

BIG MISTAKE!

The auto industry is in desperate need of increasing sales. Regardless of who you blame for the mess, the industry itself is currently operating on a sales volume larger than we have now. If sales don’t increase then the problem will still exist for all manufacturers, foreign and domestic.

As for this bill, I thought sales tax in general was already deductible on your federal income taxes. I know I have deducted sales tax on my incomes tax returns in the past. Maybe this is something for Texas that does not have a state income tax. I think it is one or the other, you can deduct state sales or income tax.

Regardless, the need to increase traffic in automotive showrooms to stimulate the economy would be better served by including interest from auto loans in this bill. I bought a car in early 2008, so I will not be buying another one soon, but without this insentive I will wait until the ecomomy improves before buying another car. If they offered auto loan interest as a tax deduction I would consider buying a replacement to my SUV sooner rather than later.