Things change, and things fall apart. Both of these truths can be applied to best-laid plans, but they ring especially true for those of General Motors.
GM might have wanted 2020 Chevrolet Corvette production to run uninterrupted from late last fall through this summer, but a series of ever-larger crises managed to keep its production numbers down to a trickle. The result is a first-model-year run so small, it’s almost guaranteed to make every 2020 ‘Vette sold a de facto Launch Edition model.
As reported by Consumer Guide, an interview with Bowling Green Assembly plant manager Kai Spande reveals less than 2,700 new C8 Corvettes rolled off the line for the 2020 model year. After delays in the model’s development and a fall labor strike that left GM plants empty of workers (and the mid-engined ‘Vette’s production start pushed back to the winter), the coronavirus arrived to mess things up even more.
The Bowling Green plant turned out the lights on March 20th after about a month and a half of C8 production. Chevrolet stopped taking orders before that. The company has said it will begin taking orders for the 2021 model in late May.
Speaking to Motor Authority, brand spokesman Kevin Kelly said Chevrolet has built 2,700 Corvettes for the current model year, adding that, once the plant resumes production (GM said Wednesday that May 18th is the target date for a countrywide restart), some further 2020 C8s will roll off the line. As for just how many more 2020 models it expects to build before the switchover, Kelly wouldn’t say.
Perhaps some of those yet unbuilt C8s will be the convertible variant, which was expected to land sometime this model year. After production shut down on account of the pandemic, it was noticed that the drop top didn’t seem to exist anywhere.
While the 2020 Corvette is destined to become a rare sight (Corvette production normally tops 20,000 units per year), its scarcity will only be valuable to the owner who’s looking to sell. And soon.
[Image: General Motors]
Assuming all the new whiz bang tech doesn’t self-immolate in the future.
Shifting the engine in the Corvette has caused a rift in the space-time continuum which basically means we are all screwed, forever. [Don’t believe me? Track significant events in recent history against the development timeline of this vehicle.]
I saw one of these in white on the road the day before yesterday. Have to say it looked better at the auto show, it’s significantly less showy than the C7.
Dont agree.
I saw one on Mound Rd by the Tech CTR. Medium weird Blue.
Loved it.
There are still 539 unsold 2019s, plus 19 others going back to 2016. Get ’em while you can!
How many manual trans models?
My wife has had love for the Corvette for a long time (she’s the reason we visited the Corvette Museum back in 2013) but she learned to drive manual before learning automatic and has no interest in the mid engine ‘Vette.
50 manuals out there.
How do you find this information. Autotrader search or some other way?
Cars.com – they have a great search tool.
You have been providing data like this for years, SCE. It is always very interesting.
Another example of GM Design just not knowing when to put down the pencil (or stylus). It’s so over-styled
cardave:
Agreed. About 20% over done. Rear fascia / tail lights a mess. Front. Lots of lines. complicated. I think R Cumberford bitched about this too at Automobile before print editions died.
I wondered what happened to Automobile magazine. I missed it in my grocery store magazine display. I thought that the pandemic might have screwed up the distribution. R.I.P.
Hopefully, this will give them time to fix the quality issues.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/32981/some-chevy-corvette-c8-owners-arent-happy-about-their-cars-wavy-interior-stitching
youtube.com/watch?v=ij0cSF2wkyw&feature=youtu.be&t=330
Given the small first year production levels, you might want to skip 2021 MY as well…
@phresehone: Yeah, eventually they’ll get it right. Hopefully in time for the Zora.
I’ve was looking at Corvettes for sale in nearby cities this morning on Craigslist. Two C8s listed, under 1,000 miles each, and both owners were asking six-figure sums.
“I know what I got”
Yeah, you’ve got the first year run of a completely new car from the ground up, which I’m sure is problem-free. No thank you
One guy’s even doing you a favor getting it broken in.
jerseyshore.craigslist.org/cto/d/lanoka-harbor-2020-chevy-corvette-c8/7106822709.html
philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/d/morrisville-2020-c8-corvette/7114344883.html
People put six-figure cars on Craigslist??
Someone stepped on my Camaro – but those black design elements are cool.
not.
Black customizing tape, $9.99/roll @ Pep Boys
People keep telling me to just get the Civic Type R and that driving it makes up for the looks. Well this thing drives a lot better and may as well be a 250 GT California in the looks department by comparison.
Trim pieces can be ordered in body color, but IMHO it does not look better.
I don’t like the Camaro rear-end, but I have seen this car in my rear view mirror overtaking me, and it is truly sweet. Corvettes are a fantastic performance value, and prove that GM could produce world class leading cars if their union and management didn’t perpetually and terminally suck a*s.
…Corvette production normally tops 20,000 units per year…
First year runs are often near double that amount.
The last thing Chevrolet should be worried about is competing with supercars when the Silverado is in third place for the second year since its redesign