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<span style="font-size: 8pt">Renaissance of the Camaro and other 'hot' sports cars is being felt all the way to the factory floors
Aug 21, 2009</span>
Tony Van Alphen
BUSINESS REPORTER
Other drivers give Roxanne White the thumbs up when they meet her red-jewel tint LT2 Chevrolet Camaro on the road. "Nice car," they coo.
White, a 39-year-old mother of two, says she gets this every five minutes or so.
People come unbidden to her house door in Sudbury and ask to see the latest version of the iconic muscle car. She gladly complies.
"It's gorgeous," she says. "It's sexy and fast. I certainly get the looks."
White isn't the only woman in her 30s, 40s or even older who is wheeling around the streets in General Motors' hot sports car.
The Camaro has become a good- news event for embattled GM, selling so briskly that the company has stepped up its production in Oshawa.
J.D. Power and Associates, a leading research firm, said statistics show the average age of a driver of the 2010 Camaro is 43 – and women now account for almost one in five sales.
Although precise historical data isn't available, those demographics are clearly a far cry from one or two generations ago when guys under 30 fuelled by testosterone almost exclusively occupied the controls of muscle cars.
A spokesperson for Chrysler Canada said the company's statistics show the average age of those buying the new version of the Dodge Challenger sports car is now 50.
Analysts and Camaro watchers attribute the changes in the user profiles to several factors, including price, comfort, history and choice.
Furthermore, women are finding their presence at the wheel gives the car more sex appeal for men. That's a little bit of twist on the past perception that males drove Camaros as a magnet to attract women.
"I have had people say the car's hot, but it's the woman inside who makes the car hotter," said White.
"Can a woman attract guys driving a Camaro? I know so," said Girija Siva Deonarain, who is married and has been waiting for her new model since March.
Camaro sticker prices, including taxes, are in the range of $40,000 to $45,000 for the six cylinder LT model and eight-cylinder SS version.
That makes affordability an issue for drivers in their mid-20s, in comparison to one or two generations ago when that age bracket could more easily handle the price range of a Camaro Z28 or Berlinetta, according to analysts.
These days older drivers, who have more money, can ante up to purchase a car that they missed out on when they were younger.
Gary Kilbride, vice-president of the Ontario Camaro Club, added that in the model's heyday during the 1960s and 1970s, it didn't have a lot of competition in the showrooms beyond, perhaps, the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger. "There's a lot more competition and choice in the market for young people now," he said. "In the '60s, it was essentially the (Detroit) Big Three and the odd British car out there."
White says today's Camaros are intrinsically more appealing to women. Whereas the car once favoured men who liked to drive fast and hard, the current models are more attentive to interior comfort and handling, she noted.
"Everything is in the right spot and it's more comfortable for me," she said. "I like a sports car but it has to be classy, too. That's the way it looks now."
"It's also easier to handle," added Siva Deonarain of Stouffville.
Kilbride agreed women are no longer fighting the wheel and the car "works" for them.
"Chevrolet has done a great job on styling and comfort," he said. "You're also getting good fuel economy with still lots of power."
Siva Deonarain, 28, said she has driven other sports cars and sport utility vehicles. But the Camaro, which originally hit the market to great fanfare in 1966 as a 1967 model, attracted her a long time ago and her interest never died, even when the Camaro itself did in 2002 (its resurrection occurred last year).
"Now I am at an age where I can afford it," she said.
She also noted that cultural changes in society make it more acceptable now for a woman to drive a muscle car.
"That car will be my baby," she joked. "I don't know now if I will have kids."
Meanwhile, GM Canada describes interest in the car as "overwhelming."
The company has an order bank of 19,000 waiting for production, and to meet its quotas, has added overtime at the new Oshawa flexible manufacturing plant until at least the end of October.
Aug 21, 2009</span>
Tony Van Alphen
BUSINESS REPORTER
Other drivers give Roxanne White the thumbs up when they meet her red-jewel tint LT2 Chevrolet Camaro on the road. "Nice car," they coo.
White, a 39-year-old mother of two, says she gets this every five minutes or so.
People come unbidden to her house door in Sudbury and ask to see the latest version of the iconic muscle car. She gladly complies.
"It's gorgeous," she says. "It's sexy and fast. I certainly get the looks."
White isn't the only woman in her 30s, 40s or even older who is wheeling around the streets in General Motors' hot sports car.
The Camaro has become a good- news event for embattled GM, selling so briskly that the company has stepped up its production in Oshawa.
J.D. Power and Associates, a leading research firm, said statistics show the average age of a driver of the 2010 Camaro is 43 – and women now account for almost one in five sales.
Although precise historical data isn't available, those demographics are clearly a far cry from one or two generations ago when guys under 30 fuelled by testosterone almost exclusively occupied the controls of muscle cars.
A spokesperson for Chrysler Canada said the company's statistics show the average age of those buying the new version of the Dodge Challenger sports car is now 50.
Analysts and Camaro watchers attribute the changes in the user profiles to several factors, including price, comfort, history and choice.
Furthermore, women are finding their presence at the wheel gives the car more sex appeal for men. That's a little bit of twist on the past perception that males drove Camaros as a magnet to attract women.
"I have had people say the car's hot, but it's the woman inside who makes the car hotter," said White.
"Can a woman attract guys driving a Camaro? I know so," said Girija Siva Deonarain, who is married and has been waiting for her new model since March.
Camaro sticker prices, including taxes, are in the range of $40,000 to $45,000 for the six cylinder LT model and eight-cylinder SS version.
That makes affordability an issue for drivers in their mid-20s, in comparison to one or two generations ago when that age bracket could more easily handle the price range of a Camaro Z28 or Berlinetta, according to analysts.
These days older drivers, who have more money, can ante up to purchase a car that they missed out on when they were younger.
Gary Kilbride, vice-president of the Ontario Camaro Club, added that in the model's heyday during the 1960s and 1970s, it didn't have a lot of competition in the showrooms beyond, perhaps, the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger. "There's a lot more competition and choice in the market for young people now," he said. "In the '60s, it was essentially the (Detroit) Big Three and the odd British car out there."
White says today's Camaros are intrinsically more appealing to women. Whereas the car once favoured men who liked to drive fast and hard, the current models are more attentive to interior comfort and handling, she noted.
"Everything is in the right spot and it's more comfortable for me," she said. "I like a sports car but it has to be classy, too. That's the way it looks now."
"It's also easier to handle," added Siva Deonarain of Stouffville.
Kilbride agreed women are no longer fighting the wheel and the car "works" for them.
"Chevrolet has done a great job on styling and comfort," he said. "You're also getting good fuel economy with still lots of power."
Siva Deonarain, 28, said she has driven other sports cars and sport utility vehicles. But the Camaro, which originally hit the market to great fanfare in 1966 as a 1967 model, attracted her a long time ago and her interest never died, even when the Camaro itself did in 2002 (its resurrection occurred last year).
"Now I am at an age where I can afford it," she said.
She also noted that cultural changes in society make it more acceptable now for a woman to drive a muscle car.
"That car will be my baby," she joked. "I don't know now if I will have kids."
Meanwhile, GM Canada describes interest in the car as "overwhelming."
The company has an order bank of 19,000 waiting for production, and to meet its quotas, has added overtime at the new Oshawa flexible manufacturing plant until at least the end of October.
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