When I went shopping for a Vette the one thing I noticed is that even in an area where many people can afford one, they never seem to have more than 1 in stock at a time. The two dealers closest to me usually have ONE, and MAYBE one Z06...MAYBE. Often times they are completely out for long periods of time. My question is with so many option packages/colors etc how come dealers don't keep 7-8 in stock? Every other car has 7-8 if not 10-15 in stock. It makes the car a lot less inviting if you can't even see it when you got there?

 

Based on the dealer's total sales and corvette sales, GM will only supply the dealer with a specific allotment of corvettes they can order.

 

They don't move that fast and there were allocation based on previous sales .Now who knows most Dealers probably rather not stock them.

 

I found a dealer in N. Palm Beach, FL that had in stock every color '09 ZO6 except for silver, and just about every color coupe and convertible. They also had two ZR1's in stock. I spent a couple of hours just trying to figure out what color I really wanted this time, as my previous two Vettes had been silver. Went back a couple of days later and chose JSB after another hour of looking.

Where I also live outside of Philadelphia, the only place you can go with that kind of selection is Kerbeck down near Atlantic City, NJ. The others only have two Vettes in stock at most.

It was nice back in the late '60s when I lived outside of Detroit when I was in high school. The car dealerships were massive, and each one of them had just about any car you could want in-stock.

Times have changed, and not in a good way.

 

Dealers in my area have had the same Vettes for months (one has 3 08s). I would imagine most in my area would chose not to have ANY inventory of them.

 

GM says a 60 day inventory is optimal.

Notice the story:

Wonder if the BG folks know about the XLR?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-sou...&asset=&ccode=

AP source: GM studying more temporary shutdowns
AP source: General Motors considering further temporary plant shutdowns to control inventory
Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
On Wednesday June 3, 2009, 5:59 pm EDT
Buzz up! Print DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is considering the temporarily closure of more factories in the third quarter as it tries to control inventory to prepare for its exit from bankruptcy protection, a person briefed on the plans said Wednesday.

Decisions are still being made, but the company wants to have inventory under control before its target of emerging from Chapter 11 in 60 to 90 days, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans are not final.

The closures won't be as extensive as GM announced for the second quarter, the person said. In April, the company said it would shutter 13 assembly plants for up to 11 weeks starting in May to control a growing supply of cars and trucks.

Company spokeswoman Sherri Childers Arb declined to say whether further shutdowns are under consideration.

"We are taking a look at the schedule right now and no decisions have been made," she said.

GM normally releases third-quarter production estimates with its May sales statistics, but the figures were absent from data released Tuesday.

Mark LaNeve, GM's North American vice president of sales and marketing, told reporters and industry analysts on a conference call Tuesday that the forecast would be released in the next couple of days.

GM's total dealer inventory at the end of May was 674,000 vehicles, which is 100,000 fewer than in May of last year, LaNeve said.

But the company wants to cut the inventory further with the summer production cuts, he said. The lower the inventory, the less pressure there is to use incentives to move cars and trucks off the lots.

"We would like to operate with a very lean level of inventory as part of the new reinvented General Motors, and that's exactly what we intend to do," LaNeve said.

Because the daily selling rate for GM vehicles is down due to the slumping U.S. market, its has a 92-day supply of cars and trucks, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. That's down from a 123-day supply at the end of March. Industry analysts say a 60-day supply is optimal to provide enough of a selection, but not so much that large incentives will be needed to move vehicles.

GM's sales are down 42 percent through the first five months of the year, while the overall U.S. market is down 37 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Possible targets of the new round of temporary shutdowns would be factories that make vehicles with the highest inventory levels, such as the Cadillac XLR with 223 days of inventory, the Chevrolet Silverado pickup with 98 and the hybrid version with 244, the Pontiac G5 with 317 days' supply, and the Saturn Aura with 139.

The Silverado pickup, still GM's most popular vehicle, is made at factories in Pontiac and Flint, Mich.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Toluca, Mexico. The Pontiac G5 is made in Lordstown, Ohio, the Aura midsize car is made at a factory in Kansas City, Kan., and the XLR is built in Lansing, Mich.

Which plants will face additional downtime depends a lot on how much inventory can be reduced with the current round of shutdowns, some of which will last well into July.

(This version CORRECTS Cadillac XLR is made in Lansing, Mich., not Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.)

 

Maybe its the Northeast weather that is the reason...but I guess Kerbeck solves that problem if you're willing to buy out of state. Personally I like to drive over to a near dealership and do business,but thats me. Can you get a good price even if the dealer had to swap for it? Just seems to complicate the deal.

 

Local mid-sized dealer near me usually has 6-8 vettes in stock at this time of year, for the last couple of weeks they've had only 3 and they ain't moving. Times are tough.

 

Where I live in NC Hendrick Motorsports has 12-15 in front of the show room mostly zo6's and a fenced in lot with about 30-40 Vettes. Some of his stock is from another dealer but mostly his inventory.

 

Every dealer here in the Vegas area has several in stock at any time. I've often seen 8 in the showroom at one time at my dealer.

 

Outside of Philadelphia in the suburbs of Chester Springs Tom Oates Chevy specializes in Corvettes and usually has 7 or 8 new ones along with Callaways and plenty of nice used ones. This is where I got mine and really enjoyed dealing with them. I have never had the experience of being able to deal with the owner directly ever. Here I did. It just made the whole experience all that much more special to me.

 

When I went to my dealer last Sat. where I bought my ZO6,. they had15 vetts including several ZO6. plus 3 zr1.

 

We had 3 at one time at my local dealer in Utah. Usually they just had a demo 2007 Vert sitting on the showroom forever. They sold Vettes but I guess they were all customer pick ups.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Market conditions have reduced the profitability of Vettes to very low levels, if not outright losses for many dealers. Once the profit is gone, you would rather take your risk with two or three lower prices car that have a higher turn rate, than having your resources tied-up in a Vette.

In better times the reason for a small number on the floor was allocations as referenced by Red Rochester. Many dealers were able to use their allocations on sold orders without having the inventory cost sitting on the floor.

 

Most dealers only have a few vettes on their lot due to available cash. Most dealers don't have the cash to have the vettes on their lot.

 

Les Stanford in Dearborn Mich.....plenty of vettes

 

dealership up the street has 10+ 09's and a 91 ZR1 with like 12K miles on it, looks brand spanking new!

 

Before Honda started selling cars here made in Japan you could go to your dealer and order a GM or Ford vehicle with any option, color, or engine and it would be delivered in 10 days.
I ordered 3 or 4 that way in the 60's.
Then Honda started putting option packages together so you had to take what the dealer had in stock, typically with every option. They built them weeks in advance and custom orders were really long delivery, if at all.
US manufactures were forced to follow that merchandising plan, with dealers keeping the lot flooded with what the dealers buyer thought would sell. I don't know where the buyer got his information on what to order. I remember seeing lots full of family sedans with no convertibles, or sport coupes on the lot at our local Ford dealer. Even rarer around here would be a HiPower engine option.
It appears to be the same with Corvettes. The dealer has to determine what will sell 6 months in advance. Then he is stuck with a lot full of LT1 packages when a prospective buyer wants a LT3. My dealer had 5 LT1's a few weeks back and not a single LT3 on the lot. At least they had a ZR1 but it was JSB so no color choice on that one.
LJ

 

I was just in Daytona beach last week and the dealer there had 31 on the lot including two ZR1's ,great selection,Maxi Price in Atlanta always has a good number on the lot also.