Chevrolet is introducing its first rear-wheel drive sedan since the SS, a rebadged Holden VF Commodore, and it’ll help fill the void left by the defunct Camaro coupe.
GM Authority reports word from insider sources that say the new combustion-powered, rear-wheel drive Chevrolet will likely be a four-door sedan, although a two-door coupe which could revive the Camaro nameplate in future has not been ruled out.
Should General Motors develop a new rear-wheel drive coupe, it would likely need to spawn a convertible version to satisfy rental fleet demand.
Whatever form it takes, GM Authority reported earlier this month that the new Chevrolet will enter production late in 2027.
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While GM Authority reports the new mid-size sedan won’t have a traditional three-box sedan profile, GM is reportedly hesitant to apply the Camaro nameplate to anything other than a two-door vehicle.
That’s in sharp contrast to its rival Ford, which calls its mid-size electric SUV the Mustang Mach-E, or Dodge which reintroduced the Charger nameplate on a sedan just over 20 years ago.
If it doesn’t use the Camaro nameplate, Chevrolet has a deep bench of iconic nameplates to choose from. It still has the trademark on the Chevelle name, for example, which wouldn’t ruffle enthusiasts’ feathers as it has previously been applied to sedans, wagons and coupes.
By featuring a sedan format, the new Chevrolet will help fill the void left by the SS (axed after 2017), the large front-wheel drive Impala (axed after 2020), and the mid-size front-wheel drive Malibu (axed after 2025).
The upcoming Chevrolet will reportedly ride on the same Alpha 2 platform as the dying Cadillac CT4 and the current Cadillac CT5.
This is an updated version of the Alpha platform that underpinned the defunct Camaro, which moved from the Holden-developed Zeta platform for its sixth (and thus far final) generation, produced from 2015 to 2023.
The Alpha 2 platform will also reportedly be used by the next-generation CT5 and a new Buick sedan.
The new Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick models will reportedly be produced at the same facility – the Lansing Grand River plant in the US state of Michigan – as the current CT4 and CT5 and the sixth-generation Camaro.
This platform supports four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines, including the supercharged 6.2-litre ‘LT4’ V8 of the CT5-V Blackwing, though no Alpha II-based vehicle has ever used a hybrid or electric powertrain.
The next CT5 is set to be Cadillac’s only traditional sedan in the US market – the ultra-luxury electric Celestiq is a liftback – but the new Chevrolet and Buick will see these brands return to a sedan market they had exited.
Buick hasn’t offered a passenger car in the US market since 2020, the last model year of the Regal (aka the Opel Insignia and Holden ZB Commodore), and hasn’t sold a traditional sedan there since the LaCrosse, which was axed after the 2019 model year.
The brand’s last rear-drive sedan, much like Chevrolet’s, was also a Holden – the Park Avenue, a rebadged Caprice last sold in China in 2012. In the US market, it last sold one in 1996 with the old-school, body-on-frame Roadmaster.
Automotive News reports word from a supplier that said GM expects to produce 60-70,000 vehicles annually at the plant across the CT5 and unspecified Chevrolet nameplates. It’s unclear how much additional volume the Buick will provide.
Whether it’s a sedan or a coupe, the new Chevrolet will have a rival in the Dodge Charger range which is now available with a twin-turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine. Ford has also reportedly previewed the Mustang Mach 4, a sedan based on its pony car.
MORE: A look back at the Chevrolet Camaro, the Ford Mustang’s nemesis