GM Trademarks “Panther” Name
General Motors has just filed a trademark for the name “Panther” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and fans of American performance cars are buzzing again. While some people hope this is a sign that the Camaro might be coming back, that may not be the case.
The name Panther actually has a deep connection to the Camaro. Back when the original Camaro was being developed in the 1960s, Panther was the internal codename for the project.
GM also brought the panther image back recently in the logo for the final Camaro Collector’s Edition. So with the name popping up again, it’s no surprise that Camaro talk is heating up. But don’t get your hopes up too soon.
According to reporting from CarBuzz, GM has made it clear that they don’t see a strong business case for bringing back the Camaro. In its last year on the market, only around 6,000 Camaros were sold.
Compare that to over 70,000 in 2016, and it’s easy to see why GM decided to stop making it in December 2023. In fact, CarBuzz pointed out that some dealers still had brand-new Camaros sitting unsold on their lots as late as February 2025.
It’s worth noting that just because GM files a trademark doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to use it for a new car. GM also filed a trademark for Pontiac recently, but that doesn’t mean the brand is coming back. Sometimes companies just want to protect a name they’ve used before, just in case.
So what could Panther be? There’s a chance GM might be planning a totally different kind of car. Some have guessed it could be a new small and affordable sports car, something kind of like the Toyota GR86. That kind of car wouldn’t cost as much to develop as a full-on muscle car with a V8 engine, but it also wouldn’t make a ton of money. That’s why Toyota built the GR86 together with Subaru, splitting costs helps make these cars possible.
Still, sports cars aren’t easy to sell these days. A lot of people are buying crossovers and electric vehicles instead. So another idea is that Panther could end up being the name for a new electric vehicle. GM once had plans to turn the Camaro into an electric sedan, and that could still happen, or maybe it’ll be an electric SUV instead. Ford already did that with the Mustang Mach-E, turning a muscle car name into a family-friendly crossover. Maybe GM will do the same thing with Panther instead of using the Camaro name.
Whatever Panther ends up being, it’s probably not going to be a traditional Camaro reboot. But it could still bring something fun and sporty back to GM’s lineup, just in a very different shape than fans might expect.
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