Friday 6th December 2019

Chevy losing up to $20k on each new Corvette

Been toying with the idea of buying a C8? Better get in now before prices start to rise...

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We may have been a little slow to the punch on this one but, for those that haven’t seen it yet, there was interesting news out of America late last week. Following a conversation with a seemingly well informed source, our counterparts at MotorTrend reported that Chevrolet is losing as much as $20,000 on every C8 Corvette it sells. 

With its 6.2-litre V8 mounted amidships for the first time, the C8 has caused quite a stir. Not just because it’s the first Corvette to offer such an exotic layout and comes with a standard 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, but because it is available for a starting price of just $59,995.

When Mike drove the new ‘Vette back in October, he even noted that: “A senior engineer working on another sportscar project recently told me he had absolutely no idea how GM had been able to do such an advanced double-clutch for the cost.” Well, it turns out that it can’t. 

According to MotorTrend’s source, the Corvette was developed with an $80,000 starting price in mind, a figure which was subsequently deemed too steep an increase over the circa $55,000 entry point of the previous C7. This means that Chevy is probably making a pretty serious loss on each base C8 it sells - although, with a smorgasbord of enticing trim levels and option packs to add on, it’s hard to say how many buyers are opting for such low-spec cars. 

Regardless, prices will almost certainly have to rise soon, with the source telling MotorTrend that the climb will probably begin by the end of next year. Of course it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever see an $80k price tag on an entry-level C8, but the increase will have to be significant if the manufacturer is to avoid a long term problem with its bottom line. 

If you’re thinking of buying a new Corvette in the not-too-distant future, then, better make it sooner rather than later.

[rare6499]

There’s a lot of ifs and hypotheticals to come but, IF I lived in America and IF I wanted a Vette I think I would try and get one of the few thousand new C7’s they have sitting around in dealer stock.

A very different proposition to the C8 but I just think the C7 looks better 😎