GM touts fuel efficency in ... new Camaro

updated 8:47 p.m. ET July 21, 2008

NEW YORK - General Motors' Chevrolet unveiled its 2010 Camaro on Monday, bringing back to life the iconic sports car it retired in 2002, but with a focus on fuel efficiency.

The new Camaro will get 26 miles per gallon (11 kilometers per liter) on the highway, GM said. It will hit showrooms in the first quarter of 2009.

GM will offer the Camaro with V-6, 3.6-liter engines in its LS and LT models, along with V-8-powered, 6.2-liter engines in its SS model. Billed as a "fun, efficient sports car for the 21st century," GM hopes the new Camaro will appeal to enthusiasts and younger buyers.

"It's a sports car for a new generation of enthusiasts that doesn't forget the heritage that helped make the original a cultural icon," Ed Peper, GM North America vice president for Chevrolet, said in a statement.

The Detroit automaker has struggled amid record gas prices, a weak consumer environment and an unprecedented flight from trucks and sport utility vehicles in favor of more fuel-efficient sedans and crossovers.

Last week, GM said it would cut production of about 300,000 pickups and SUVs by the end of next year and trim its work force in an effort it hopes will save it $15 billion (euro9.46 billion) as it seeks to weather the economic slump.

GM first announced it would produce a new a Camaro in 2006, when it also unveiled a concept car. The car unveiled Monday is similar to its predecessors, with a long, flat front and side "gills" that evoke the original, while still sporting a modern overall design.

GM said it will assemble the car at its factory in Oshawa, Ontario.

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