GM Runs Out of Corvette Parts, Production Paused
The C8 Chevrolet Corvette has certainly seen its share of hardships. Despite the vehicle receiving almost unanimous approval from those fortunate enough to get some cockpit time, it has been subject to numerous delays through no fault of its own. Union negations held last fall resulted in a 40-day UAW strike that pushed assembly of the mid-engine Corvette from the tail end of 2019 to the start of 2020. Of course, this butted its launch up against a global pandemic that forced General Motors to shut down production facilities for two months. Shutdowns likewise affected parts suppliers who were also made subject to government restrictions, causing bottlenecks across the industry.
Combined, these issues have forced GM to reduce the number of planned options. Many parts were proving too difficult to source with any reliability and the cars have become notoriously difficult to procure. While the manufacturer has said it would continue building the 2020 model year for as long as possible, supply is unlikely to meet demand until 2021. But the headaches haven’t abated just yet; GM has been forced to stall production on the C8 this week after running out of the necessary parts.
Corvette Blogger broke the story late last week, with CNET confirming the production postponement just days before General Motors issued an official announcement.
“Due to a temporary parts supply issue, we can confirm that Bowling Green Assembly will not run production the week of October 12th,” explained a corporate spokesperson. “Our supply chain, manufacturing and engineering teams are working closely with our supply base to mitigate any further impact on production, and we expect the plant to resume normal operations on Monday.”
When that does happen, it’s unclear if the model will have enough parts availability for GM to relaunch the 2nd production shift, however. The manufacturer spent most of the year without it due to part shortages, with the line opening up at the start of September. With the model once again confronting a lack of materials, 2nd shift could remain on hiatus for a while longer.
For now, the company seems confident that things will be remedied by October 19th. But it has not committed itself to maintain the 2nd shift or identifying which Corvette parts had dried up to cause the production stall. As things currently stand, GM is targeting just over 20,000 examples for the 2020 model year (by December) and is estimated to have completed about 13,000 thus far.
[Image: General Motors]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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As I said last year, C8s and late C7s will be hot collector's items. I wouldn't be surprised if there are further problems for C8 production and/or sales in 2021.
Early C8's especially convertibles are like hen's teeth. GM has a very desirable model yet can't make enough of them. UGH this must super frustrating to them. Even if they made 20k this year I'd bet that is about 20k behind the current demand. The only good news is this has lifted the C7 market. For example my '14 Z51 3LT is worth the same or slightly more then I paid for it 2 years ago based on CarGurus. I've never owned a used car that has gone UP in value.