2017 Will Be The End Of The Line For The Chevrolet SS

[supra93]

The Chevrolet SS, one of the most honest and talented four-door models of the market, is apparently heading to its extinction this year.

The confirmation came from Alan Batey, President of GM North America according to WardsAuto.

It will be a sad day when the SS seizes to exist but we all knew that this was approaching fast; the slow sales didn’t help the SS but to be fair, Chevrolet didn’t do much to promote it either.

Essentially the left-hand drive version of the Holden Commodore, the Chevrolet SS was praised by many, but bought by too few. Many people and the press saw a true spiritual successor of the E39 M5 in the SS, and that means a lot to the right ears.

It was also offered with a six-speed manual gearbox as well, but these days no one is really looking to buy a thirsty V8-powered four-door that demands you do the work of shifting.

Let’s not forget that GM is also shutting down Holden’s production in Australia anyway, so even if the SS was a market hit, its days would still be numbered.

http://www.carscoops.com/2017/01/201...chevrolet.html

[DeeteeM]

I didn't even know this car existed in the US.

[overcoil]

When making the decision for my 235 the SS was my other choice. But my BMW dealer was a closer and better operation. But the SS leaving is sad.

[Never_Enough]

GM marketing fail once again + they look boring as hell. I might look to buy one in a couple years when the price goes down near $20k or so

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by DeeteeM

I didn't even know this car existed in the US.

Same, until very recently.

[shay2nak]

Should have gotten rid of the chrome...would have looked more sporty & badass if it were all black.

[gtron]

A neat car that just looked horrible IMO. Outside of enthusiasts, most people have no idea what that car is or what it can do for that price.

[David70]

Combination of problems. Nothing to look at, too heavy (isn't using a current platform like the Camaro/ATS), I think mpg is the lowest of any sedan in the U.S. (including Charger Hellcat with almost 300 hp more), didn't have current Camaro/Corvette V-8 so I think 50 hp less and part of the reason for the lower mpg.

GM built it with minimal effort and it showed. I like them but when looking for my daily didn't like it enough to deal with the negatives.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by David70

Combination of problems. Nothing to look at, too heavy (isn't using a current platform like the Camaro/ATS), I think mpg is the lowest of any sedan in the U.S. (including Charger Hellcat with almost 300 hp more), didn't have current Camaro/Corvette V-8 so I think 50 hp less and part of the reason for the lower mpg.

GM built it with minimal effort and it showed. I like them but when looking for my daily didn't like it enough to deal with the negatives.

But then:

Easy to tune

Rear wheel drive

Manual transmission

Roomy interior

Well vetted Holden platform

GM does great paint

[Go Horns!]

I owned a 6MT one for about a month. It was great to drive, but the seat was uncomfortable to sit in on long trips. Sold it to a fellow enthusiast for a little less than what I paid for it.

The electronics are the car flat out sucked. It was a half-baked infotainment system. The car would have been better off without it.

They would have sold a lot more if they made a version with a cloth interior, basic radio controls, and no navigation.

[supra93]

Sales for the SS

2013: 418
2014: 2,479
2015: 2,895
2016: 3,013

[GottWhat]

Originally Posted by Satan'sChariot

GM marketing fail once again + they look boring as hell. I might look to buy one in a couple years when the price goes down near $20k or so

Bet they will have better resale values than our BMWs. How much are G8 GXPs going for (last model year was 2009)?

[WreckerX5d]

Originally Posted by Go Horns!

I owned a 6MT one for about a month. It was great to drive, but the seat was uncomfortable to sit in on long trips. Sold it to a fellow enthusiast for a little less than what I paid for it.

The electronics are the car flat out sucked. It was a half-baked infotainment system. The car would have been better off without it.

They would have sold a lot more if they made a version with a cloth interior, basic radio controls, and no navigation.

That's the thing, people were too discouraged at the MSRP of these, yet they come fully loaded. I read somewhere on the SSforums that GM was only going to make profit if they had every option on there and no change.

I guarantee they would sell more if they did what you stated.

I still want an SS as my next car when the time comes though.

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by GottWhat

Bet they will have better resale values than our BMWs. How much are G8 GXPs going for (last model year was 2009)?

G8 GT & GXPs are still going for too much $ IMO. In the teens fr high mile GTs last I saw.

After I made my previous post, I hopped on Autotrader to look at used SS pricing. 2014s, and some 2015s, can be had a decent amount under $30k already. I'll have to look up what the 2015-2016 cars got over the 2014s when I'm in the market for another car.

[KingOfJericho]

IIRC, the only option on the car was color and transmission (2015-).

[Germanauto]

As typical of GM, corporate always gets in the way of logic.

Rebadging an ancient vehicle from abroad and passing it off as a new car was lame. It's the same reason why the entire Buick line sucks, they're all a bunch of badge engineered variants of Opels and Chevys. The SS looked plain, had a crap interior, crap electronics, and GM's famous crap reliability. It just goes to show how stupid GM's management continues to be by allowing such a product to reach the market. While I don't think the Kia Stinger will be a hot seller either, I admire Kia for actually putting effort into their RWD sport sedan. It looks great, the interior seems nice for what it is, and the electronics will be modern.

I can't think of many desirable vehicles from GM.

[GottWhat]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

As typical of GM, corporate always gets in the way of logic.

Rebadging an ancient vehicle from abroad and passing it off as a new car was lame. It's the same reason why the entire Buick line sucks, they're all a bunch of badge engineered variants of Opels and Chevys. The SS looked plain, had a crap interior, crap electronics, and GM's famous crap reliability. It just goes to show how stupid GM's management continues to be by allowing such a product to reach the market. While I don't think the Kia Stinger will be a hot seller either, I admire Kia for actually putting effort into their RWD sport sedan. It looks great, the interior seems nice for what it is, and the electronics will be modern.

I can't think of many desirable vehicles from GM.

GM has plenty of nice vehicles...off the top of my head: CT6, CTS, ATS, XT5, New Malibu, New Lacrosse, Impala, C7 Corvette, Camaro, Volt, Bolt, Full-size trucks, full-size SUV's, mid-size trucks, Regal GS, Chevy SS, new Acadia, upcoming Traverse, etc.

The SS run was going to come to an end no matter what, the Holden factory is closing and it wouldn't make sense to shift production to US for an old car.

[sales@vivid]

I dont understand this. The sales numbers were really low, but i can remember being interested in them about a year ago, and i couldn't find one in the whole state of Arizona. I couldnt even look at one in person, let alone drive one.

[David70]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

As typical of GM, corporate always gets in the way of logic.

Rebadging an ancient vehicle from abroad and passing it off as a new car was lame. It's the same reason why the entire Buick line sucks, they're all a bunch of badge engineered variants of Opels and Chevys. The SS looked plain, had a crap interior, crap electronics, and GM's famous crap reliability. It just goes to show how stupid GM's management continues to be by allowing such a product to reach the market. While I don't think the Kia Stinger will be a hot seller either, I admire Kia for actually putting effort into their RWD sport sedan. It looks great, the interior seems nice for what it is, and the electronics will be modern.

I can't think of many desirable vehicles from GM.

I can think of a lot of desirable vehicles from GM.

As for Buick - more than doubled sales from 2009 until now, maybe their best brand when it comes to increasing sales volume. Enthusiasts don't like them because they don't build cars for enthusiasts but it turns out non enthusiasts money spends the same.

Buick sales in the U.S. -

2009 -----102,306
2010 -----155,389
2011-----177,633
2012-----180,408
2013-----205,509
2014-----228,963
2015-----223,055
2016-----229,631

For 2016 sold more vehicles than Infiniti, Audi, Acura, Lincoln, and assuming most of us would say they are "better" cars.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/01...-rankings.html

Originally Posted by sales@vivid

I dont understand this. The sales numbers were really low, but i can remember being interested in them about a year ago, and i couldn't find one in the whole state of Arizona. I couldnt even look at one in person, let alone drive one.

GM sold 3000 of them last year, with over 1000 dealers there is a good chance your local dealer didn't stock many of them. Also would be likely to sell his 3 before you got there, waiting on another one, or not have the right car you were looking for. This is part of the reason they don't want a lot of options on a slow selling car.

[GottWhat]

The SS is also sold with almost no incentive support and they do not lease well. For example, I leased 2014 Chrysler 300S Hemi AWD with a sticker price just under $50K for well under $300 per month, leasing an SS would have been nearly double that - both with employee discounts and lease loyalty or conquest.

[Gamb1t]

never heard of it. Did see an Impala SS.... its predecessor?

[Beartato]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

When making the decision for my 235 the SS was my other choice. But my BMW dealer was a closer and better operation. But the SS leaving is sad.

Same. The SS was an option for me but finding one close to even look at was next to impossible, especially in manual. Seems like a really sweet ride though.