Camaro SS and Corvette ZR1 are safe despite disbanding of GM performance division

Yesterday’s grim news that General Motors had decided to pull the plug on its High Performance Vehicle Operations (HPVO) caused shockwaves around performance circles, with many believing some of the company’s top sports cars, both current and future, could meet their demise. The HPVO is responsible for the Cadillac ‘V-series’ of cars and Chevrolet ‘SS’ models, and this lead many to believe that the upcoming 2010 Camaro SS could be canceled.

Nothing could be further from the truth as GM spokesman Vince Muniga has revealed to Edmunds. This is because cars like the Camaro SS, Corvette ZR1 and Corvette Z06 are all regularly engineered. "They did not go through HPVO. Most people did not realize that. They are safe," Muniga said.

As for other models like the Cadillac CTS-V, Muniga explained that the performance saloon is a regular part of the CTS lineup and that it will stay for the foreseeable future. "The CTS-V will continue through the life cycle of the product. If they are regular production cars, they will continue through the model run, whether it's an SS Cobalt or an SS HHR."

GM is not the only carmaker cutting down on its niche products. Ford, too, has put its own SVT product development on hiatus and there are unlikely to be any new SRT products from Chrysler for its latest models anytime soon.