GM Inside News Forum banner

GM killing dreams of El Camino return?

22K views 88 replies 38 participants last post by  megeebee 
#1 ·
GM killing dreams of El Camino return?
Published October 28, 2013
FoxNews.com

The El Camino has reached the end of the road, again.

Long gone from U.S. roads, the idea of a car/pickup hybrid has lived on in Australia where they are known as utes and have become as stereotypically Australian as a shrimp jumping off an Outback barbie into Paul Hogan’s mouth.

General Motors’ entry in the segment is the Holden Ute, a rear-wheel-drive two-door that rides on the same platform as the Chevrolet SS and Caprice police car sold in the United States and wears a nameplate that dates back more than 60 years.

More at link: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/10/28/gm-killing-dreams-el-camino-return/?intcmp=features
 
#10 ·
First of all SCCA, congrats on your personal upgrade to GMI Staff Member. Not sure if I can get used to the NoStopN handle yet though. ;)

And yes you and I have predicted that GM wants the Ute dead to be replaced by the more global Colorado. A shame really. :(
 
#9 ·
Exactly.
 
#5 ·
FOX strikes again.


Though they may be right. I understood sales of the UTE had been falling in the Home market for a while now. Can anyone post figures?
 
#7 ·
i think that a base model v6 zeta El Camino would do a better job as a halo car bringing in customers to see it than the new Chevy SS ever will.
 
#8 ·
I don't have figures, but I had read that Colly sales are seriously more than the Ute by about a 2:1 margin. For tradies, the Colorado probably costs less, gets better fuel economy, & since it sits taller, it has more ground clearance. Sounds like a good all around vehicle for fun. Of course, off road is only one style of fun. The Ute is still pavement scorching fun.
 
#33 ·
We can hope a Ute continues, but I fear the decision is made. Long live Chevy from here on, if its not a Chevy we won't get it. :(



I think you should have adopted 'Lime Rock Green' as your handle :)
 
#13 ·
As one who remembers the original Ranchero and the Chevrolet copy, El Camino, I never felt there was a viable market for them. They both started out full sized while Ford went to compact before they went to midsized and Chevrolet went straight to midsized. Others came in later with the concept with compacts (VW truck, Rampage, Brat, Baja). The closest we came to a viable alternative has been the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Chevrolet Avalanche and Escalade EXT. Even they have been discontinued even though they were the "Crew Cab" of the UTE. I think the El Camino concept is going the way of the up-level standard cab pick-up. They have or are disappearing and replaced by 4 door pick-ups.
 
#14 · (Edited)
It may be going that direction, but it doesn't have to. What could achieve those coveted fuel mileage numbers? A low svelte 3800 pound V6/V8 Ute or a 5800 pound Crew Cab 4X4 ten foot tall monstronsity with the aerodynamics of a brick? I and others aren't asking for huge trucks to disappear, we just want a trucklet to be offered, that is all.

I would think a young active twenty-something single millenial would be more attracted to a fuel efficient ute that he/she and a buddy could throw in their mountain bikes, camping gear, paintball equipment, quad ATV, surfboards/body boards/skateboards or a few kegs of beer for the frat party or clean up for the occasional date than a huge gas guzzling monster 4X4 truck that he/she can't fit in the tiny assigned parking space at their apartment/dorm let alone pay the 45 to 50K it costs to buy these huge trucks anymore. And that is even if they WANT a vehicle with all the social media out there today. So a mid to high 20's V6 Ute would have the leg up on a 40K full size truck one would think with this group.
 
#17 ·
The CAFE rules would be very good for the Ute, as it has a longer wb than the Commo, but same aerodynamic fascia, front fenders and low profile roof.

And if wheelbase is the only logic behind it all, the Silvy should've gotten rid of the 5' 8" bed and instead retained a double cab/8ft configuration, which was dropped.

One thing I really question wrt to the way US makers rate the pickups: Do we really believe that a 5500lb CC standard bed V6 would make 18mpg city just like a 4500lb RC standard bed? Because they both rate the same mileage. I could see highway numbers being similar since most of the engine power is used to overcome aero force, not to move the weight. But in stopping and starting in traffic, does an extra 20% increase in weight have absolutely NO bearing on city gas mileage?

I can see why a ute/camino is a red headed stepchild when we have 'real' pickups coming out of our ears in the US. I've got a standard box RC myself that I could easily replace with a 'camino' type vehicle IF, it had the jumpseat in the middle for the occasional third person and a bed just a bit longer than six feet (for my camping setup).
 
#25 ·
I've got a standard box RC myself that I could easily replace with a 'camino' type vehicle IF, it had the jumpseat in the middle for the occasional third person and a bed just a bit longer than six feet (for my camping setup).
That occasional need for a 3rd seat would put me into the market for a used Elco. GM has pretty much shut the door on importing the current Ute & this article acts like Holden is ready to close the door on building the Ute altogether.

Actually its part of their make-up. They're more "pack" animals and less individuals than previous generations. They prefer to hang out with a group of friends rather than by themselves or with just one other individual. That's why they prefer vehicles with 4-doors.
I have no problem with 4-doors.


Not to mention the 2014 Impala, Suburbans over the last 40 years, & crew cab trucks. But, with everyone using social media, they can meet up without having to carpool. So, no need for 4 doors.
 
#21 ·
I can see why a ute/camino is a red headed stepchild when we have 'real' pickups coming out of our ears in the US. I've got a standard box RC myself that I could easily replace with a 'camino' type vehicle IF, it had the jumpseat in the middle for the occasional third person and a bed just a bit longer than six feet (for my camping setup).
Yep, I'd love the option of a 3rd in the middle but with having to piggy-back it on the Commodore Zeta chassis it won't ever happen. It may have a 6 foot bed already, I have to check. There are always those bed extenders that you could drop the tailgate and give you the extra length. :)
 
#22 ·
I have an Avalanche, and it is about the closest thing you can get to a Ute in the US, but it is still a big, lumbering, thirsty truck that is no fun to drive. It's as handy as a Swiss knife, but I would still prefer the Ute.
 
#24 ·
It is useful. Like a big swiss army knife. Sometimes though you just need a scalpel or hunting knife to get the job done though. ;)

If they could sell over one MILLION El Camino's between 1959-1988 surely they could still sell a few thousand a year in the US if GM was actually brave enough to offer it to us.
They most certainly could if GM didn't want it dead as the dodo. :(
 
#23 ·
If they could sell over one MILLION El Camino's between 1959-1988 surely they could still sell a few thousand a year in the US if GM was actually brave enough to offer it to us.
 
#27 ·
The Ute has morphed into a lifestyle machine. Holden sells a few Omega V6 and LPG utes to diehards, but most are SV6/SS 2-door sports models.

The Commodore and Falcon car-based utes have been pretty much killed by Thai diesel imports. I can buy a 2wd Colorado from Holden for $29K or a 4wd for low $30s which will carry and tow more. Holden can't afford to sell utes that cheap.

There is a scenario which sees Holden continuing to build Zeta SS, Calais which remain strong sellers plus PPV, SS and Ute plus HSVs off the third line they are organising. The origin of the Fox speculation is an article which supposes that because the replacement Commodore is global and smaller a Ute can't be had off it. However, even if Ute survives unless the $Au drops a lot, can't see it. I think that ship sailed with the death of the G8 ST.
 
#32 ·
Not only is this from Fox News, but the rumour is also from Carsguide (owned by News Corp [nee News Limited] surprise surprise). I can see how there is little potential for development of a new model, however, as long as the Caprice continues, the Ute can roll down the line with it. With all but amortised development costs, there is the option of keeping them coming, but not in the aligned development cycle with what ever else is built at Elizabeth.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Well it seems history is repeating itself. Back in the 1980's it was the new small pickup the Chevrolet S-10 that finally did in the El Camino and now it seems by all outward appearances IMHO that perhaps Chevrolet's new smaller pickup, the soon to be released Chevrolet Colorado just might have done in the El Camino or at least the Idea of El Camino once again.... and you know what? I'm fine with that. If the Ute had come North as El Camino it would probably have had a MSRP of $40K or more which would have kept it out of the hands of most of the people, like me, who loved the El Camino for what it was; a cool, comfortable, smooth riding and sometimes fast, reasonably priced CAR that happened to a TRUCK.

 
#31 ·
As things stand right now, the Ute will end with the current Commodore line, sometime around 2016. I haven't heard of and know of no effort to replace it with anything other than GM's Colorado.

The current VF Commodore and WM Statesman are going to come to an end in 2016. While the platforms themselves are going to be replaced by Alpha and Omega respectively, cars made on the assembly line there aren't guaranteed past the end of the current models. Even if production does continue there, it's most likely that the car replacing the VF Commodore will be a rebadged new Chevrolet (though not necessarily the current Impala). But there is no Ute vehicle planned for Alpha or Omega, and unless GM moves Zeta tooling to China where knockdown kits of the Statesman is assembled and sold as Buicks (a distinct possibility), that's where the Ute's road ends.

I will say that it's entirely possible and realistic to start a campaign to sell the Ute here for it's last year or so of production. GM say's it's because of the exchange rate. Until I heard the reason they aren't selling manual Chevy SS here, I would have thought it perfectly logical. However, there's likely more at play here on failing to sell Utes here. And knowing that some of GM's old cultural mindset lingers, I seriously doubt there'd be a downside in making them available here in the US, and like the SS, simply import to order.
 
#34 ·
People should remember that News Corp has built their reputation on quoting 'anonymous sources' or people close to the matter, or even just basing entire stories on baseless rumours. They very rarely ever print anything that could be classed as proper journalism. They are like the Fox News of Australia.
 
#37 ·
VF Ute sales are terrible at best. In the upper models they missed out on some of the goodies that the Sedan picked up (BOSE sound and Sunroof) and yet they still charge the same premium over lower models as the Sedans....

Most dealers are not bothering to order any Ute stock whatsoever. It's gotten to the point now that if a customer wants something and it can't be sourced from another dealer or plant stock, that it is a factory order and a minimum 3 to 4 month waiting time.

The Sportwagon is not much better. The majority of cars coming down the production line at the moment are Sedans. As much as I can see why they didn't bother with the extra investment to update the rear of the Wagon and Ute, a lot of people don't see the point in changing over to a car that is pretty much the same.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top