Chevrolet’s SS muscle sedan was only introduced for 2014 but supplies of the car will run out in late 2017. That’s because the only place in the world where the SS is produced, Holden’s plant in Australia, is winding up production for good and retiring the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform on which the car is based.
Unfortunately, the SS is likely to end up a one-hit wonder like two previous Holden-built cars sold here, the Pontiac GTO and G8. The outcome was hinted at by Alan Batey, General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] head of North America, at the 2017 Detroit auto show.
Speaking to Drive, Batey said that it is “very unlikely” there will be anything to follow the SS.
The news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as SS sales have averaged less than 3,000 units per year since launch, although that’s with GM limiting the car’s availability and failing to promote it outside of NASCAR where its silhouette features on Chevy’s Sprint Cup racer.
GM doesn’t have anything in the works that could serve as a direct replacement for the SS. The automaker also has fuel economy and emissions regulations to cater to, so renewing a niche V-8 sedan isn’t likely to be of much concern.
