GM recently announced that it has vanished its High Performance Vehicle Operations (HPVO) team from further projects, but no need to fear the end of performance-minded GM vehicles, like the Corvette and the 2010 Camaro. The HPVO team was responsible for the “SS” line of vehicles, including the Chevy Cobalt SS and the Cadillac CTS-V.
A GM spokesman, Vince Muniga, has revealed that a number of GM vehicles won’t be affected by the death of HPVO. Cars like the Chevrolet Camaro SS, Corvette ZR1 and Corvette Z06 were actually engineered as standard vehicles, with no affiliation whatsoever to GM’s HPVO… so they’re SAFE!
Corvette Safe From HPVO Shut Down
“The Camaro SS, Corvette ZR1 and Corvette Z06 are all regularly engineered cars,” Muniga said. “They did not go through HPVO. Most people did not realize that. They are safe.” There’s a huge sign of relief to all of the Corvette and Camaro lovers in the world. However, Cadillac’s V-Series cars and other high-performance models – such as the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and HHR SS and Pontiac G8 GXP – were developed through HPOV. Those vehicles will continue as planned for the time being, but likely won’t be replaced after their current lifecycle is up.
With GM losing some of its other “performance vehicles,” we may see a new uprising in Corvette and Camaro owners, which would be very good for the industry. On another hand, we could see a potential shift from GM customers looking for a lower-priced performance car turning to another car manufacturer to “get the goods.”
But all hope might not be lost as Muniga compared GM’s HPOV to Ford’s SVT. Ford’s Special Vehicle Team stopped production in 2004, but has reformed to create the Ford Raptor. “This is an indefinite hiatus,” he added.