Things for the Chevrolet C8 Corvette seem to be changing on a weekly basis. At the beginning of the month, Chevy announced that it would build 18,000 more units of the 2020 C8 Corvette before shifting to the 2021 model year. That was great news for consumers that have been eagerly waiting to purchase one of the hottest cars of the decade. Unfortunately, if you’ve been waiting to buy a 2020 C8 Corvette, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer, as some 2020 orders will be pushed back to be for the 2021 model year instead.
According to the Detroit Free Press, consumers that pre-ordered a 2020 C8 Corvette may have to wait to receive a 2021 model. “We are not going to build all of the 2020 orders,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly told the outlet. Kelly added that Chevrolet will work with customers and dealers to ensure that people that have pre-orders for the mid-engine sports car will be on the list to be offered a 2021 option.
If you’re looking for something to blame, point your anger toward the coronavirus. Not only did the virus cause General Motors to shut down North American plants for roughly two months, but the pandemic also affected inventory coming from the automaker’s parts suppliers. While earlier reports indicated that Chevy was planning to build an additional 18,000 units of the C8 Corvette before switching over to the 2021 model year, the Detroit Free Press now states that the complexity of ramping production up means the automaker has no idea how many vehicles it will actually be able to build.
The outlet, citing an unnamed source, claims that GM only has one shift of 570 workers on the line since it restarted its C8 Corvette plant on May 26. Usually, the plant has 1,200 workers across two shifts to build the vehicle. With roughly half of the manpower as usual, the plant is only manufacturing 60 to 90 units of the sports car a day. Normally, that figure is at 180 units across both shifts.
“We’ve had an enormous demand for this vehicle and we had that work stoppage and we have suppliers trying to come up to speed too,” said Kelly. “The plant is still coming up from COVID. We still haven’t brought up the second shift yet, so we’re still ramping up.”
According to Kelly, GM had 20,181 orders for the C8 Corvette through May 1. In the first quarter of 2020, the automaker sold 3,820 units of the Corvette, which Kelly claims the majority of which were for the 2020 model.
This is more bad news for Chevrolet and consumers interested in purchasing the vehicle. Consumers have been waiting decades for the automaker to introduce a mid-engine variant of the sports car and have had nothing but bad news to look forward to with the mid-engine sports car. While consumers will have to wait a few more months to get their C8 Corvettes, there is a silver lining – pricing is expected to hold steady at $59,995 for the coupe and $67,495 for the convertible (including destination). So, you may have to wait a little while longer, but you won't be charged more.
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