C8 Corvette Production Seems Cursed

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Thanks to last year’s prolonged UAW strike and this year’s global pandemic, production of Chevrolet’s new Corvette is way behind schedule. As reported previously, GM had already dialed back the expected number of 2020 C8s headed to dealers by roughly 20 percent before the coronavirus touched down in North America.

Unfortunately, reopening factories hasn’t magically transported the manufacturer into a scenario where C8 ‘Vettes are abundant and customers can rest assured they’ll see their new toy by the end of this year.

Plenty of orders have already been rolled over for 2021 model-year vehicles, especially if they’re convertibles. Now, supply chain troubles all but guarantee 2020 will be an unfortunately weak year for the mid-engined Corvette, and GM knows it. The company’s doing everything it can to get as much product out the door as possible. However, the obstacles placed in GM’s path have proven too large — and timed too perfectly — for it to ever had much of a chance at a normal product launch.

“We are not going to build all of the 2020 orders,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly told the Detroit Free Press this week, noting all the aforementioned issues.

While that makes the C8 seem utterly cursed by fate, certain models from rival manufacturers seem like much better candidates. Barring a few untoward claims about fit and finish, which one could dismiss by way of Chevy’s impressively low pricing, the Corvette just happens to have some of the worst luck imaginable when it comes to timing. Unless you’re not a fan of the updating styling, there’s not much to complain about other than availability.

“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,” Kelly explained. “The plant is still coming up from COVID. We still haven’t brought up the second shift yet, so we’re still ramping up.”

He also said the manufacturer garnered 20,181 orders through May 1st — which is after it stopped taking orders for 2020. GM’s quarterly report cites it as having delivered just 3,820 Corvettes in total. Fewer than 2,700 are assumed to be the C8. At that pace, it’s not going to get through every order by year’s end unless production ramps up swiftly and remains high.

Right now, that isn’t the case. The Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky is currently operating with less than half its normal staff, and several suppliers have found themselves in a uncomfortably similar situation. Even if GM added a shift today, there may not be an adequate parts supply to maintain production.

From Detroit Free Press:

Typically, about 1,200 people across two shifts assemble the car, but since the plant restarted May 26, one shift of 570 workers is on the line, said a person familiar with plant operations who is not authorized to speak to the media.

The person said the plant is building 60 to 90 cars a day, when it normally would assemble more than 180 across the two shifts.

But Kelly said the delay is merely typical ramp-up after a shutdown, saying, “We are unaware of any production target misses and are attaining the production output set for the team at Bowling Green as we continue to ramp up after the COVID-19 shutdown.”

Novi-based supplier Tremec, which makes the 8-speed dual clutch transmission for the 2020 ‘Vette, is running at the same production rate as the plant, said Michael Kvicala, Tremec’s marketing specialist.

“There are issues across the board with suppliers and it’s not just the Corvette. You don’t just bring both shifts back up when the production was down,” Kelly said. “You have to ramp up. We’re ramping up as we get the suppliers online and everyone online.”

It’s also not just GM. Anyone manufacturing something more complicated than a block of wood faces supply issues at the moment. Your author currently has a bunch of audio equipment on back order for the same reason automakers cannot source sufficient parts. Given the scope of the mess, it’s going to take a while for most industries to regain their footing, and the automotive sector requires more cooperation than most.

The good news is that GM doesn’t intend to recoup money lost on absentee 2020 Corvettes by hiking the price of next year’s model. The base price will stay five bucks below $60,000, with order forms being readied for next month. “We initially said we would start taking 2021 Corvette orders at the end of [May] but, again, due to the plant being down for two months, we’re adjusting that timing to late July,” Tadge Juechter, executive chief engineer for the C8, said at an enthusiast’s event at the Corvette Museum held on May 29th.

Here’s hoping next year is a little kinder than this one.

[Image: General Motors]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

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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  • Whynotaztec Whynotaztec on Jun 19, 2020

    Earlier this week I think I saw a C8 in a nearby driveway. And that is a problem to me, I'm not exactly sure what is a Corvette anymore.

  • GenesisCoupe380GT GenesisCoupe380GT on Oct 31, 2023

    since everything about this generation sucks a$$, discontinuing it wouldn't be a great disappointment like it is with the Camaro. The Chevrolet showroom just isn't a place for a faux-exotic car, what with being filled to capacity with gas-drinking Silverados and various forms of bottomfeeding SUV fodder. Chevrolet set itself up to fail by burning down 65 years of a winning formula just to impress a whole generation who has almost no appreciation of how to handle high-powered cars like the Corvette

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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