Bob Lutz, erstwhile chief of General Motors products for North America, now says: If I thought we could sell 100,000 new Camaros, then we would build a production version of the concept car.
Ford has kept the Mustang alive since 1964 by selling about 40,000 annually for the past several years, many more in years when new models are introduced (like this past year when 160,000+ were sold). Why would GM need to sell so many more Camaros to make the project viable? What about this: Why can't GM sell, say, 40,000 GTOs, 40,000 Camaros and 40,000 Firebirds? Hmmm? Would that satisfy the 74-year old product genius Lutz? 
Heck, they couldn't even sell 25,000 GTOs, even with a 400 horsepower V8 and a six-speed tranny! Remember, that GTO was Lutz' Big Deal which would Save Pontiac. Even with the Solstice on the horizon, and the Saturn-version of it, SKY, sold-out for the entire year, GM can't build more than 25,000 Solstices if they tried. No capacity. Don't they PLAN for any successes at GM anymore?
WHO is planning production for GM plants these days? Does anyone in marketing talk to the people making the production decisions for years to come?
Lutz made his bones in Europe working for GM and BMW, then by giving the greenlight to the Prowler, Viper and PT Cruiser while at Chrysler (and we all know that no one person is ever more than 10% responsible for ANY product from a major auto manufacturer). Bob Eaton and Bob Lutz were a team at Chrysler --- Can they be successful on their own?
Someone has to ask the proverbial "$64,000 Question" question of Bob Lutz: What have you done for us lately, Bob?
According to AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, "Product chief Robert Lutz thinks General Motors can sell more than 100,000 units of the Chevrolet Camaro -- and says that's the number required for GM to build a production version of the concept unveiled at the Detroit auto show. GM is doing "intense work" on engineering for a production version and analyzing the business case, Lutz, GM's vice chairman and global vice president of product development, said in an interview with Automotive News. Lutz says GM wouldn't consider building the car unless it could sell more than 100,000 a year. The Camaro would be aimed at the Ford Mustang, which sold 160,975 units in the United States last year. The Camaro would be part of GM's coming lineup of midpriced to premium-priced cars on a new rear-drive architecture developed by Holden. North American production of those vehicles is expected in 2008 or 2009."
Is Lutz blowing hot air -- Again? Lutz may well have the huge ego and intimidating power which served division General Managers well, "back in the day", when their word as as good as from "god". But do those skills and powers mean anything in the car world in 2006? Probably not. If anything, they are probably negatives. BIG negatives.
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