Chevy prices new SS sedan below rivals
DETROIT -- The Chevrolet SS sports sedan will carry a sticker price of $44,470, including shipping, making it Chevy's priciest sedan when it goes on sale in the fourth quarter.
The price is below that of the two main competitors in the small market for nonluxury, rear-wheel-drive performance sedans: the Chrysler 300 SRT ($47,240) and the Dodge Charger SRT ($45,270 for the Super Bee trim level). Both prices include shipping.
GM wants to conquest customers of those models while burnishing Chevrolet's reputation for performance by adding the SS to a lineup that also includes the Corvette and Camaro.
GM has downplayed sales expectations for the SS. In January, GM North America President Mark Reuss told an Australian Web site, carsales.com, that he would be happy with U.S. sales of 3,000 to 5,000 units a year.
Research firms AutoPacific Inc. and LMC Automotive are more bullish, with U.S. sales forecasts of 8,000 to 10,000 units for next year.
Through May, Chevrolet's U.S. market share slipped to 12.8 percent from 13.1 percent at the end of May 2012. For the first five months this year, sales grew 5 percent from the year-ago period to 821,674 units.
The SS, Chevy's first rwd performance sedan since it stopped selling the Impala SS in 1996, will be imported from GM Holden in Australia and built on the same platform as the Camaro and Holden's VF Commodore.
It will come in just one model. The only options will be a sunroof ($900) and a full-sized spare tire ($500).
Standard equipment will include: Brembo front brakes, forged aluminum wheels with performance Bridgestone tires, Chevy's MyLink infotainment system, color head-up display with color instrument panel, heated and ventilated memory seats, side blind zone alert and lane-departure warning and Bose audio system with one year of free SiriusXM radio.
The car will be powered by a 6.2-liter V-8 producing 415 hp and 415 pounds-feet of torque and will travel 0 to 60 mph in about five seconds, GM says.