rfn026

Every Corvette introduction talks about how the new car is going to get younger buyers. Then every year the the average age gets older. Here's the current dream in USA Today.

What's interesting is that the marketing guy won't say who the competition is. He almost chokes. Porsche has moved to far upmarket I don't think they compete with the Corvette any more. Boxsters are over $80,000 now. Don't even think about the 991 GT3. Porsche is chasing the money. Chevy is chasing the age.

Next year at this time we'll know how the Chevy dream turns out.

Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff

Wicked Weasel

I really dont feel that Chevy does a good job in marketing to customers and attracting younger people. As a current owner of a Corvette and Mercedes and previous owner of BMW and Porsche I just see the German companies putting more time/effort into keeping their car owners involved with their cars.

Mercedes, nearly monthly, sends me something that is going on at the dealer. It can be a meet and greet the mechanics to a night of drinks to unveil a new car. BMW invited me to a huge all day party at the dealer when BMW came back to F1 (that was a while ago). BMW and Mercedes both have invited me and a guest to a small autox day that they setup. One was at Englishtown, NJ and I took a friend who said he would be interested. He ended up buying a Mercedes SUV after that.

I go to many races and there are many Porsche only races. At WGI a month ago there were only 1 or 2 corvettes in all of the races. There were plenty of Porsches. Maybe the racing heritage with Porsche just runs deeper.

As far as statistics - Porsche owners average age is much younger than Corvette owners so Porsche must be doing something right to attract a younger crowd.

FYI Boxster and Cayman start at $50K.

TedDBere

I think it's pretty clear that Chevy doesn't support the Corvette privateer. They keep their racing information close to the vest and actively try to be sure the privateers don't beat their corporate efforts.

You'll never see that with Porsche. Porsche understands that the more Porsches even in the race is good for sales.

Heck Corvettes are one of the best autocross cars ever made and do you think you could get even one useful piece of set-up advice from anyone within the Corvette division? They haven't a clue. At least Danny Popp used to get the Product management team involved, can't remember the last time I saw them at an event.

Imagine, an autox option package with wheel sizes you could use that actually have tires available and affordable....

Zoxxo

The really pathetic part of this scenario is that Porsche has the confidence that their factory efforts won't/can't be beaten by privateers while GM wants to make sure of it even if that means being beaten by BMW, Viper, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. As long as they are the fastest Corvettes on the track that weekend... More than a little sad. And odd.

If and when a factory Porsche team is beaten by a privateer Porsche team, Porsche just turns it to a positive with "See? Our cars are so awesome that sometimes even WE can't beat them!" advertisments all over the planet.

GM continutes to advertise the Corvette as "the performance of a supercar without the supercar price." That sales tack will *never* work to deal with the "age" issue. Heck, half of the reason that Porsches are in demand is because they cost more. ("Our wristwatch keeps time just as good as a Rolex but costs 1/3 as much.") As long as they continue to use Wal-Mart sales tactics, it will be Wal-Mart customers they will have. And those customers will continute to need bench seats in the thing.

Z//

Fulton 1

My story is probably not pertinent to this discussion, but your comments reminded me of a similar experience.

A little over three years ago we were in the market for a used SUV that was large enough to haul the dogs, could deal with winter weather, and wouldn't break the bank. We stumbled across a clean, low-mileage, single-owner Trailblazer SS that someone happened to have traded-in at the local Mercedes/Porsche dealer.

While I've purchased my share of vehicles over the years they have been mostly domestics. All I can say is that this was far and away the most pleasant buying experience I have ever had at a dealership. I now know how the other half lives...

USAF

so far every time I've seen a C-7 drive up in a commercial there's an old guy in it.
Every time.
Sometimes the one of the design engineers.

How about a 30 something guy. Or a really hot woman.

Who is running marketing at Corvette?

USAF

Zoxxo

Keep in mind that while they would love very much to move towards the younger demographic, it's the older folks who have been paying the bills for many years and who continue to do so. If it was an easy move to make, they would have done it long ago.

The heritage of a car brand takes a long time to establish. Once established, trying to change it is a tough proposition.

Porsche, for example, had racing as part of the deal almost from the beginning. What's more, they have kept working at maintaining that (legitimate) heritage ever since the early, early days. Next year they will have a P1 car at Le Mans. So they can rightfully claim a true racing heritage backed by the factory.

Corvette, on the other hand, despite Duntov's efforts, has seen racing as a public relations thing. Still do. And while it might fool some of the people some of the time, the difference is still pretty clear to those they SHOULD be trying to impress. Changing this will take a real commitment and a lot of time and money - things that GM will be hard-pressed to bring to bear on the issue.

Z//

Bill Dearborn

I think the problem is one of perception of American cars. Younger people think in terms of their ricers. They don't even think about a Corvette, they are too expensive (even the older ones are perceived as out of their price range).

Bill

Zoxxo

You need to define "younger", Bill. Around here (Silicon Valley) the younger people are in Lexus IS or BMW 3 or 5 series. The youngest people are in their Hondas and such. It's also surprising how many of the new Tesla S I'm seeing every day.

And when I was just 15 and the new Corvette Sting Ray came out, I certainly couldn't afford one (aside from the no license issue) but I sure did want one. THAT is where/when the seed is planted.

Z//

steve J06

Agreed! I've taken a few auto classes at the local CC and even after seeing my vette up on the rack, pointing out the design features and telling them about the weight to HP numbers, they still consider it a heavy slow pig. This even though I was able to badly shame a couple of the guys in stoplight drags. So I discuss further all the technology and how this car in base trim costs little more than a big SUV. They still don't register it as possible or even desireable. They are more interested in Nissan GTR and Lexus LFA as supercars to dream of owning.

The image of american cars is really poor with young guys (<30) and in this area a lot are 1st gen americans who have no sense of 'buy American' type loyalty, so that isn't there like it is for older folks who saw the American auto industry in its greatness and what it means/meant to us as a whole. Because of that history I would never consider an import but after the disappointments of my C6 on track, spec miata is looking better all the time. The young guys (and gals!) are just looking at what they percieve to be the best value and style. No suprise that a car currently marketed to the 'traditional vette owner' is not getting their attention. Maybe things will change with the C7 but it is a tough sell. I am in mid 40's and could care less about more posh options but would surely be interested in a minimalist version aimed at track/performance WITH factory backing. Other makers have a customer focused performance division with support, why not Chev? Why do we have to wait until privateers figure out the shortcomings and then design a solution? No idea how chevy intends to draw in more first time buyers with better lux options - these guys are currently driving middling cars with gutted interiors looking to get more performance bang for the buck. I know the idea of an 'entry level' vette rubs some of the purists the wrong way but it needs to be there to entice at least a few of the younsters to stretch for that as a first purchase and impress their friends. Chevy needs to have this be the planted seed so that when the friends of this vette owner have disposable income they will in some respect be trying to recapture that youthful enthusiasm when selecting a $70-100K car as a toy in their 30s and 40s. And let's face it, at that price point these cars are only toys not necessary tools. Once you get people into the vette, they generally seem to like it but the trick is getting them there in the first place.

corvette_racer_john

Yeah I agree with your comments. I have raced with a bunch of PCA guys so I can understand what is up.

The one thing I would add to this discussion is that I honestly feel like there has been one step in the right direction recently with GM's marketing of the engineering/racing side of the C7 and the Camaro ZL1. The quick online series that they have filmed are something that they would have never done before. It's a small step, yes, but a step that would be taken out the Porsche or BMW playbook.

93Rubie

I'm somewhat active in the car community that is my age (I'm 25) and typically when I go to meets/shows I am one of the few domestics and often the ONLY Corvette. That being said, I do get attention. I try to inform folks that these cars ARE affordable and very quick. Even a old C4 is quick compared to what a lot of them are driving. I'd love for someone to tell me for 14K a car than can do what my LT1/ZF6/Z07 93 can do? Its in very nice shape and has only 63K on it. I'm listening....point being, bang for the buck, hands down winner is Corvette. You can get C5Z06's in NICE shape for low 20's for crying out loud.

I try to get a lot of these people involved with auto-x and the few that I have LOVE it. Subaru's are BIG, and make pretty decent auto-x cars if built right. I give rides at our clubs auto-x events to ANYONE who wants one. Needless to say the people my age who have been the passenger got one hell of an eye opener.

Then I tell them, imagine what a C6 can do with MUCH more HP and 30+year newer suspension design.

That being said, the younger generation (Millennials, Gen-Y, whatever you want to call us), is mostly into the STANCE or STYLE (Sound) scene. They often NOT about performance in shape or fashion, and if it is its mostly drifting. Granted takes skill and car setup, but is more about style than going fast. Its about the look. The ones that are seem to be into performance drive Subie's and that kinda stuff. FEW sports cars, although, I've seen a coupe S2K's and Mk.4 Supra's. Ironically, they where more drag car than sports car. Although, the FR-S/BRZ has somewhat taken off.
No one seems to want to go fast in curves and corners??? IDK?

I'm slowing winning converts to the dark side.
I'm the Asst. RE of the Allegheny Highlands Region of the SCCA and our typical turnout at Auto-x events is on the younger side so there is hope. None drive Corvettes, but I do!

RX-Ben

For $14k you can get a C5Z that will wipe the floor with any of the awd turbos or anything else (other than a GTR, but easily in reach w/mods).
The numbers are not even close from a dollar/performance ratio.
Only thing that competes is a used tube frame car.
C7 is great except for the rear, hopefully they take a page from the Japanese book and do a redesign of that in a couple years, but I doubt it. Even so, I image good looking bumpers will still be readily available. In any case, it is edgy enough to interest younger buyers, I think. Getting them to walk into a Chevy dealership is another issue.

95jersey

I meet Doug Feehan at a Corvette meet and greet in Philly. They had the race cars with a formal dinner and presentations, and he was talking about the C7 and their race efforts at LeMans. I stood up and asked the question about supporting privateers like Porsche does or making a track only Corvette since so many of us already spend a fortune turning these things into dedicated track cars and he said it was not in the demographics and GM had no intention of supporting a customer racing program. They are focused on LeMans and winning the ALMS manufacturer title.

Zoxxo

Unfortunately true. But then there is the "chicken and egg" bit where if you don't offer a support program then you get no privateers and with no privateers you have no reason to offer a support program.

Which, again, is mainly for PR purposes. The "halo car" gives a halo to all of GM's products (whether merited or not.)

Also, a primary difference between Porsche and Corvette is that the Corvette itself is fundamentally a PR project. GM could shut down the Corvette line and it would barely dent their reality. Porsche, on the other hand, is making race cars out of their primary production vehicle. Porsche is the 911 for all intents.

Z//

joenationwide

I think this is true and a sad reality. This generation clearly values form over function. Some of them like horsepower, but almost none of them have ever thought of taking a turn fast. To them a car is art, where to us a car is a go-kart.

That being said, (sigh), there really is no performance enthusiast demographic. I define this demo as people who autox & track their car, or at a minimum do some "spirited canyon driving" as they say out west. But I think we are the 1%, maybe less than that. So the fact that Chevrolet has actually built the new C7 Corvette with such a strong focus on performance (and 90% of the owners will never appreciate it) really blows me away and I am thankful for it.

rfn026

GM actually started a customer racing program back with the C5 Corvette. I wrote about it back then.

The GM folks called them the box cars because the car actually came in a bunch of cartons. The problem was that GM didn't have the patience to stick with the program. I knew the folks who put it together and they never had real support for the long term.

Porsche views racing as a profit center. They make a profit every year with their racing efforts. GM just spends money - actually they just ship the money in a big bale to Pratt and Miller. There are two very different approaches to racing.

The big dog at GM racing is Jim Campbell. He was once the brand manager at Corvette. He is well aware of how Porsche runs it's racing program. He's also well aware of how GM wants the various racing programs to operate. You don't get to be a VP of GM and head of world wide racing by being stupid.

Richard Newton

235265283...

From a marketing perspective, I think OP asks a good question.