NASCAR Cup Series

It's official: Chevrolet dropping slow-selling SS model

Published Jan. 9, 2017 4:31 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

At Monday’s press day for the opening of the North American International Automobile Show, Chevrolet made it official that it would discontinue the slow-selling SS sedan after the 2017 model year.

Although the V-8-powered, rear-wheel-drive SS sedan was well-received critically, GM sold just 3,013 SS sedans in all of 2016, compared with sales of 97,006 Impalas and 227,881 Malibu models, the other two family-sized sedans in the Chevrolet lineup.

Chevrolet has raced the SS in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 and will continue to race it again this year.

Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s racing boss, said in a statement Monday that the automaker is not ready to introduce the successor to the SS.

“It was already known that the Chevrolet SS was going to be discontinued in 2017,” said Campbell. “That information was originally announced last summer. As you know, we don’t talk about future projects. We’ll make any announcement regarding our next Cup entry at the appropriate time.”

Given that the Impala and Malibu are the only other large sedans in Chevrolet’s lineup, it would be a shock if one of them isn’t picked to succeed the SS on NASCAR tracks in 2018.