There was a time when the Chevrolet Impala brought up good feelings of summertime, family outings, and hot muscle cars. The Impala used to be an awesome nameplate and everyone wanted one. It had some dips and dives in terms of sales, like any car, but it had one of the longest lifespans of any American car in recent memory.
The history of the Impala goes back to the late ‘50s: 1956 when it was first shown at the 1956 General Motors Motorama car show with Corvette-like design cues on a full-sized luxury car. The antelope called the impala became the car’s logo, and seven months after the Motorama show, the basic design for the car was developed.
Fast-forward almost 70 years and ten generations, and the reign of this Chevrolet has come to an end. It’s not the first time the Impala has been discontinued or even the second. But this might be the nail in the coffin for the car, as it just doesn’t have the same appeal as it once did.
Updated July 2022: We have updated this article with more info on the demise of one of the most celebrated Chevy cars, and also speculate on how it can make a possible comeback yet again!
The Chevy Impala had a slow death and the reasons include GM’s missteps throughout its history, dwindling sales, and an overall consumer veer from sedans to SUVs and crossovers.
History Of Chevy Impala And Its Discontinuations
The first generation of Impala was a sleek, long sedan that shared bodyshells with lower-end Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs of the time, but was sold at a higher price point. At the upper end of its engine options was a 5.7-liter W-series Turbo Thrust V8 that got 335 hp, giving the car some serious oomph. The car was slightly restyled using GM’s B platform in 1961, the start of the second generation.
It lasted until 1964—a short life—and the fourth-gen 1965 Impala came back hot. In 1965, the new muscle car-esque Impala set an all-time industry sales record of more than 1 million sales in the US, making it incredibly popular. It came in coupe, convertible, two- and four-door options, and even station wagons. There were 10 engine options, with nine of those being powerful V8s. The Impala was on top of the world.
The first discontinuation of the car came in 1985 after the Impala had started to become stale and lose its appeal. The car came back in 1994 with a completely different look, and everything changed. Less than 70,000 units were sold between 1994-96, and the second discontinuation took place.
The eighth generation, introduced in 2000, looked even more round and normal. Again, sales weren’t great, and the V8s were a thing of the past, with different V6s now available. Still, the car lasted from 2000-2005, then 2005-2014 in the ninth generation, and finally the 10th generation from 2014-2020, until the last car collapsed.
GM Missteps Leading To The End Of The Impala
General Motors had quite a few miscues that led to the beginning of the end for the Impala. First, it was considered a mistake to continue production of the Impala in 2019, after they had announced it would be canceled in June of that year. Sales of the $28,000 Impala were down 50% in 2018, and only getting worse. Six GM models were eliminated in 2019, but the Impala and Cadillac CT6 kept on.
One of the big problems with the newer Impalas, ever since the 2000s, is they didn’t have the same appeal as older, flashier Impalas. It was lackluster in comparison and looked like every other sedan on the road—boring. Had it gone through a drastic redesign that upped sales, it might still be here today. But as it stood, the nameplate was a shell of its former self, and it would never return to its former glory.
The Reasons For The Chevy Impala’s Demise
The things that ultimately led to the Chevy Impalas' demise were the same things that plague every car, eventually. Namely, dwindling sales numbers for sedans, overall, and for Impala numbers specifically. General Motors was also trying to streamline its efforts into marketing and building crossovers and SUVs—like every other big car company out there—so the Impala was largely forgotten.
Several other cars were canceled, including the Chevy Volt and Cruze, the Buick LaCrosse, and Cadillac XTS and CT6. The Detroit/Hamtramck plant was retooled to produce electric vehicles. Other things that led to the Impala’s end beyond its terrible sales (just 44,978 in 2019, down from 311,128 just 12 years earlier in 2007), were its lackluster and poor design, and the harsh reviews it received from critics.
Strangely enough, there’s a car that will replace the Impala in GM’s lineup, and it’s not what you’d expect: the GMC Hummer EV pickup truck, which is slated for release in 2022.
We Adore The Chevy Impala's Zeal To Live
Despite the production of the Chevy Impala seizing in 2019, the car continued to sell in limbo until February 2020. With the current wave of EVs and the trend of dead cars being resurrected, it sounds intriguing to hope for the Impala to live yet again! But chances are very narrow for Chevy to revive it as the muscular car we know of as. But if there is ever a simmer of hope for the Impala nameplate to resurface, it surely will be as a do-all crossover.
Sources: Chevrolet, Mecum