Arroe Collins All Level Sports...

Todd Christensen The 2017 Camaro ZL1

The New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) gets underway March 23 and 24 during media days at the Jacob Javits Center. Marking the show’s 116th anniversary, more than 1,000 vehicles and new technologies will be on display. Brand new debuts, sneak peeks, concept vehicles, along with interactive exhibits featuring simulators and ride along courses, will be available to the public March 25 through April 3 in New York City.

Momentum at Chevrolet is gaining speed: In 2015, the brand celebrated its best retail sales in nearly a decade and debuted five all-new cars; in the first month of 2016, Now Chevrolet is focusing on its performance line-up!

Revealed in Chicago last month, the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro 1LE brings additional performance capabilities to the all-new, sixth-generation Camaro. Now, the 2017 Camaro ZL1 is poised to challenge the most advanced sports coupes in the world in any measure – with unprecedented levels of technology, refinement, track capability and straight-line acceleration. Acceleration for the ZL1 is delivered with a new supercharged 6.2L V-8 engine estimated at 640 hp (477 kW), and either asix-speed manual transmission with active rev matching or an all-new 10-speed automatic. The Camaro ZL1 goes on sale later this year.

The Chevrolet brand is in the midst of a significant product and business transformation in the U.S. and around the globe. Every one of the brand’s new products will offer consumers expressive designs, world-class safety and performance, and advanced technologies such as Teen Driver, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which will be available in 14 new Chevrolet models.

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 24 Mar 2016
Audio Format:: other

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Yep, switching and saving with Geico feels just like that. Get more with Geico. Hey, it's Arrow on iHeartRadio. The New York International Auto Show gets underway March 23rd and 24th at the Jacob Javits Center, marking the show's 116th anniversary with more than 1,000 vehicles and new technologies. And you know what the word on the street is. Chevy's got something going on with that 2017 Camaro. We are unplugged and totally untied with Camaro marketing manager Todd Christensen. Wow, what an exciting day for Camaro, you know, with that ZL1. Coming out is unveiled in New York City. Yeah, exciting time for Camaro. I mean, we just, just on the heels of launching the all new 6th generation Camaro back in the fall. And now here we are, you know, revealing the brand new 2017 Camaro ZL1 640 horsepower. This is the ultimate Camaro in our lineup. It's like finally, machine has met muscle, which means I can have some fun on the highway. Oh, yeah, you can have a lot of fun with this car. I mean, actually, and it's perfect for what you're just talking about because it does everything exceptionally well. It goes to the track and, you know, accelerates quickly, but yet it's a perfect car for a daily driver with all the creature comforts and, you know, technology on the inside that you'd want for a daily driver. And you talk about the track and right away, my imagination goes to the ZMAX track, which is out there at the Charlemotor Speedway. You know, this is the kind of car that people are going to turn into a funny car. And they're going to really rev that baby up and it's just going to scream down that road. Yeah, good thing is, we designed the car just for this, you know, we designed it to go down the drag strip. We designed it to go to the road course. It's really meant to do everything. So, so to have a car like this back in on your side of the team, this has got to be like a whole entire team effort from the designers all the way up to the builders and everything. I mean, everybody has got to be screaming excitement right now. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's so much passion in the Camaro team anyway, you know, in terms of they all wear the car and their sleeve and, you know, bring it all to work and put everything, every ounce of energy they have into developing the car. And this really is sort of the ultimate, ultimate payoff. There are a lot of proud parents, if you will, right in the Camaro team right now. Now, when it comes to Camaro, isn't it about attitude? And the attitude actually comes from your entire team. Yeah, I mean, we certainly, it's the attitude, but I feel like we're really close to our customer, too. We listen to them, we talk to them, you know, we try to pay off all the, you know, feedback that they give us. And, you know, one of the challenges is it's sort of easy to make a fast car. It's not easy to make a fast car that also delivers, you know, decent fuel economy, all the, you know, comfort that you want every day, like we have to make a car that does everything now. I'm glad you brought up the customer, because each Chevy has done so well when it comes to keeping connected with those customers. I mean, you do so well on the social networking, as well as just asking simple questions to build a car that we need, because I know we started off with racing and all that kind of stuff. But there's still that man and woman that wants to drive that car through the everyday world. Yeah. And that's, you know, in the sports car segment, I think we see it almost more than anywhere because you have walks of life who just want a cool looking car and they want a moderate level performance. So we have a more entry level with two liter turbocharged powertrain gets, you know, 31 miles per gallon on a highway, good acceleration, but then you've got the other end of the spectrum who wants everything, which is the ZL1. And we have to sort of, you know, all lots of flavors for different tastes. You got Wi-Fi in that thing? Absolutely. Oh, Camaro's Wi-Fi. See, that's so important to me because being on iHeartRadio, that's the next level where broadcasting is. And it's because of Chevy. It's because of Camaro that I designed these radio shows for iHeart because my goal is to participate with you guys in doing that. Absolutely. Well, and then back to our customer, they expect it, right? Yes. They want the same level of connectivity that they get, you know, you can plug your Apple phone in and the display is right on the screen of the touchscreen of the car now. So we're, you know, Bluetooth connection, Wi-Fi, it's got everything. So what is it like, Todd, with it when the millennials come in there and they really don't know the true roots of what the Camaro has done for a lot of people, but they're looking at that car going, "Oh my God." I mean, it's almost like starting a brand new tradition. It is. And you know, we really saw that a few years ago when we were in the Transformers movies. We brought in a whole new age group of Camaro enthusiasts that really didn't have, they didn't have the history from the '60s, but I tell you what, we have a whole new fan base now that love it from Transformers on, so it's kind of fun to see the multiple generations. The visibility of Chevy, that's your department, isn't it, because, I mean, everywhere I go, I see Chevy, I mean, and that takes a total team. Yeah, I mean, big brand, lots of cars to market, so we definitely need to be out there interfacing with a customer and tell them all the great things that we're doing. When it comes to safety, I mean, the Camaro is, you know, because, you know, how some parents are with, you know, people want that car, that all-man car, the first thing you think about is it's not safe, but I know that with a Camaro, we're talking total safety. Absolutely. I mean, we've got a lot of the same features that you'd find on what I would call a regular passenger car. I mean, every Camaro has a rear view backup camera, so it'll help you, you know, backing out of your driveway, has side blinds on alert detection, you know, it's got eight airbags, so there's plenty of safety in mind with these cars, and quite frankly, the more performance you have, we really have to have safety, a number one. So what do you think the people are going to do with the New York International Auto Show? When they come up to that car, they're going to be gocking at this baby, aren't they? I hope so. Yeah, I think it's definitely, the VL1 has definitely got more of a menacing look. It's got, you know, this big grill opening to allow all the air to come in to cool that, all that horsepower, it's got, you know, different hood, you know, big spoiler on it. I think people are really going to like it. You know, thinking like a guy now, do you think that people are going to get some fatter tires and put it in the back and mag it up a little bit so that they can, when they drive around town and stuff, it'll be like, "Ah, that's my machine." Well, I tell you what, our customers do a lot of personalization. I don't know if you can go any wider than the tires we already have on it, they're huge, but we enable all kinds of personalization, stripes, you know, wheels like you just talked about, interior trim, it's part of the game now, people want to make it their own. You're so right about that because you can go even to a local dealership and sit down with them and the design. See, once again, that's how Chevy does their customer service. Yeah, and actually, you know, we developed a mobile app, so you can get it on your phone, in fact you can go get it free on the app store, it's called Camaro 6, and you can go in there and you can play around with all the colors, wheels, stripes, and options, and basically, you know, customize your own car, then walk into the dealer and show them what you want. Does that include color too? Do you get to pick it out or are there certain brands? Well, you know, it's going to be within our 10 color palette, but there's thousands of options to choose from. Which one are you seeing it's hot right now? Is it a candy apple red or anything like that? You know, the bright blue, hyper blue is our hottest seller right now. And that's amazing with blue because, you know, like a sharp black or something like that, but blue. That's amazing. Yeah, it's, you know, it's a pretty intense electrifying blue, but it's really, you know, people have really gravitated towards it. But, you know, right on its heels are the colors you'd expect, you know, the blacks, the reds. Surprisingly, even whites pretty high, whites become a very popular color in sports cars this year. Especially down here in the south. I mean, you see the white everywhere, and when you drive by that Chevy dealership down here, you're looking at it going, "Oh, my God." It's almost like royalty, but I expect that from Camaro. Yeah, white with black wheels and all the blacks, right? The stormtrooper. You put that V8 in there, and all of a sudden you are the king. Yeah, I mean, wealth, and again, you want that or there's plenty of people who want the V6 with a little less power, but more efficiency, so it's all about giving people choices. So what is the one thing that customers are going to discover that there was like, "I didn't know this car had this," because, you know, with all the computers and all the things that are on board nowadays, what is that one thing that you're hearing that make people go, "I didn't know?" Well, I tell you, one thing that people are excited about is we have this available option called Interior Spectrum Lighting, and you literally can go into the touch screen of the radio, and you can choose the interior ambient lighting between 24 different colors. And people are really wild by that, and that's something we saw our customers doing, you know, on their own previously, so we thought it'd be a good idea to bring it into the production car. Does the market research ever stop, or are you guys just endlessly asking questions? You know, it never stops, but it's part of the fun, right? We like to listen to our customers and find out what they like and don't like. So what is the best way for someone to follow you to find out more about this brand new car, which is the Camaro ZL1? Yeah, a couple of ways, so Camaro on our Facebook page is a great way to do it. We daily updates there, and then, of course, Chevrolet.com/Camaro for everything new that we've got going on. Speaking of those daily updates, one of the things that Chevy is connected to when you in the dashboard, that I can get directions, I can get information. You guys are so hooked up to when it comes to making sure that the driver is a smarter driver. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, we're blessed to have OnStar, right? So OnStar has all kinds of things that you can integrate into the car, where it's turn by turn directions that literally show up on the screen in front of your, in front of your speedometer. You know, again, we talked about Wi-Fi connection. It's endless on what you're able to do to stay connected with your own car. Now, with as much talk as there have been lately about cars that don't need drivers and stuff like that, with a Camaro, you'd want to drive the car, would you not? We certainly designed the car for people who like to drive. No question about it. I mean, there's, you know, there is a place in this world for autonomous driving, no question about it. I think our end of the segment are the people who really want to drive. You do make driving fun.