Short blurb in USA Today (Business section, p. 7B) states that the next gen Corvette will make a shift to appeal to younger customers. "The pressure is on to expand Corvette's customer base beyond its core of men in their 50's, because sales have tapered off." So states GM design chief Ed Welburn. Due out fall 2013.

 

Oh great. So we can expect ambient lighting, huge wings and giant fart cans on the C7

 

And a 2.0 4 cyl turbo.

 

Whoa whoa whoa...watch it fella's! Im 24, and Ive loved Vettes my entire life. I think the only way they will make the new Vette more appealing to youger buyers is a lower price tag. However that can only be brought down so much....I dont see whats NOT appealing about any Corvette...

 

My thoughts, exactly.......

 

Rather see them drop the line altogether than see a new Vette going down the road with a "wherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" noise generated by the four cylinder mill with a fart can winding out that God forsaken noise......... don't care if it runs 8 second 1/4's with 80 lbs. of boost........

that's the day I will officially say America has turned to SH _ _

even in the 80's when front wheel drive 4 cylinder vehicles (domestics) seemed to peak in popularity, the Vette remained a V8 rear wheel drive sports car......God forbid anything else......

 

I doubt that will ever change

 

Maybe the younger crowd wont bitch so much being as they will screw the car up before the typical Vette defects show up. lol

 

Price is the big factor, and i don't see that changing. Interestingly, the best sales years for corvette were the 70early 80's- , when they made the worst ones. I can imagine whats coming from a company that used a 49 chevy as a model for it's retro cars. The pictures I've seen are not encouraging. Since it's government motors, it'll probably be a solar/wind power car made out of recycled water bottles.

 

Great....they can manufacture it in China since young 'uns love imported crap so much anyway. Have commie slaves build it..... That should keep costs down.

856speed said it very well.....I'd rather see it dead.

 

Younger guys love vettes just as much as older ones. They just can't afford them as much.

I thought that was what the Camaro was for....

 

Whoa whoa i'm 26 and love my older women Eva, she was born in 79 and defects and all she is my American Muscle Car!!!

 

Waited for the Camaros too, see how much an SS brings?
Priced me out.

 

I'm not even going to worry about it until I see it. GM has done a great job keeping this secret.

probably won't be able to afford one anyhow, but I'm also of the opinion that the 7 liter Z06 might be the car to have as I think displacements are going to drop in the near future.

 

fixed

 

base v8 camaro coupe 6speed w/ convienience pkg $32,555
base v8 mustang coupe 6 speed no options $30,105
base v8 challenger 6 speed r/t no options $28,720
base mitsu evo 6 speed no options $34,890
these are the cars that every teenage boy in my neighborhood wants, I recently tested a base corvette 6speed (cant remember if it was a 10 or 11) but dealer was willing to let me "take it home today" for $43,000
out the door. not much more in my opinion, but still almost 1.5x the price of the cars listed. with options most of the cars can be within spitting distance of a new corvette, (a neighbor just picked up a camaro ss for $50k!!!) the main problem with the vette (and any performance car) is that they are not very practical, most of them are second or 3rd+ cars. for the most part this is g.m.'s halo car and will /should always be aspirational. there is a reason that the core of the buyers for this car is 50. they have done the family car, they are set in the job, they don't need to drive the kids to school,ect.ect
so unless they drop the price 7-10 grand, double the gas mileage, and find a way to cut the insurance in half (at least) its never gonna happen. of course if they do make it appeal to the younger crowd they risk losing the current crowd. so do you sell to the guy that comes in specifically looking for the cheapest vette he can get or do you keep selling to the guy who comes in looking at a base for 45k and leaves with a vert/g.s./z06/zr1 for up to 100k, or better yet comes in looking for a malibu and leaves with a vette (or both) with the occasional young guy thrown in.

 

selling to the guy who comes in looking at a base for 45k and leaves with a vert/g.s./z06/zr1 for up to 100k, or better yet comes in looking for a malibu and leaves with a vette (or both) with the occasional young guy thrown in.[/QUOTE]
Time was, you'd want a young girl thrown in.

 

Another Gooberment Motors mistake. The Vette is out of reach for most "younger" folks that are struggling to buy any car, let alone a $50K vette. Well, except for the spoiled brats whose parents would buy them whatever they wanted.

 

I was hoping it would be a little bit like the Vette they brought on the Hot Rod Power Tour.

 

I've seen a couple on those lines. I suspect, unfounately, that should just about kill the vette.