TRAKCAR

Frustratingly late....

Even a smaller volume producer like Jaguar can have it ready as soon as you can order the cars.

GM, here's how you do it:
http://www.jaguarusa.com/build-your-own/?id=FTYPE

rcooper

Late because the car won't be ready for dealers until August? Or because the production has not started yet? Or maybe they just aren't ready yet?

BlueOx

Because they are still selling C6's. That's why.

Corvette ED

They do this every year. You can order the cars at the dealer but the GM webpage is months behind.

adamsocb

The Corvette marketing team at Chevrolet has always been behind when it comes to the public information. I don't know if it is because they know they will sell every Corvette they can produce in the first few months of the new model run to us loyalists or some other reason.

GM does know how to do it. If you look at the 2011 VOLT marketing effort or even the 2014 Spark EV, you see things like the configurator available way in advance of the car.

http://www.chevrolet.com/spark-ev-el...your-own.html?

RedC7AZ

On the GM site, you can have all kinds of fun configuring a C6 that they don't make anymore.

1BlinkGone

Precisely. Sounds like a govt-run entity for sure...

SCM_Crash

There's none on the lots yet and you can't directly order one. That's why it's not there.

Once GM starts delivering the C7s, you'll see the C7 configurator on the Chevy site. Not before. It would be a dead-end to customers.

Take my word on it, they've already built the "build your vette" system and it's probably sitting on their dev branch right now just waiting to get pushed onto their production site.

travisnd

I agree with the OP... it should be out and available for people to daydream and mentally purchase their car.

$$$frumnuttin'

patience...this is what is known as a 'high class problem'...

texvette2

if they can't get a simple configurator up and running. Tells allot about the car.
Recalls Recalls

vetteLT193

They spent all their time and money on the 'designers' of that flaming turd of a website they have now for the Stingray. There are tons of pictures zoomed in so far you can't tell what you are looking at.

Total flaming turd. And this is coming from a Web Developer that enjoys new styles for web sites. I showed it to one of my buddies at work that has owned a couple of 'vettes (also a web developer) and he literally got PO'ed looking at it because there were no 'pictures of the car' just a bunch of zoomed in shots.

Process Black

You probably won't see a full 2014 Corvette site until the 2013 model year is put to bed which will roughly be around the time the C7 starts shipping to dealers. In the meantime, there's still C6's to sell and the need to advertise is still there.

Hopefully the web changeover will be within the next few weeks.

Bill17601

I was at the Mid America Corvette Fest and asked a question about the C7 to a marketing guru. He said really Bill we are not interested in your demographic. I am in my 60's. I said really jerk? I'll bet you take my check anyway. All the other Corvette people were very nice. The marketing people are AH's in my opinion. I am not surprised.

Sin City

Dumb not to have it now.

Even dumber: Only lame excuses.

People right now are ordering cars or thinking about ordering cars. Why make it difficult for them?

$$$frumnuttin'

and I don't think selling remaining C6's has anything to do with it...that's gonna play out with or without the C7...toward the final few, they will sell cheap just to get them off the books.

1BlinkGone

Absolutely. We all know it's not available quite yet. But part of the hunt for the buyer, as well as the marketer, is SELLING THE DREAM.

If you get a bunch of people hungry for your product in anticipation of its release by letting them run the configurator and building their own car (or a version or two), it goes a long way to setting the hook so to speak, in pre-sales. Get them excited. Get them dreaming about their own C7 and let them build their own versions. Let them dream. You can't force the hand of the company for early availability by launching the configurator pre-launch. No harm there.

GM can always post the disclaimer "Available XX/XX/13" on the host page of the configurator. Done deal. But you can't often retrieve a prospective customer when they've lost interest while waiting and you lose them to another brand & model.

If GM has gone public with the C7, the new configurator should be up to garner more interest. Same thing, for example, with the Mercedes-Benz 2014 S-class. If you announce it, put up a configurator with the launch date disclaimer. Done deal.

mdrums

Go drive your 4.0!

SCM_Crash

So odd... So many experts in here.

You people realize that marketing items that end in a dead end are detrimental to sales, right?

Trackaholic

I don't know what you mean by a "dead end"

Is it not true that you can order a 2014 Vette at this time? To me, that's not a dead end.

I know that I would love to see a configurator available, with accurate colors for the exterior and interior options, thorough explanations about the options (like the upper interior suede option VS the suede seat inserts). How about some photos that let people see the difference between a black 2LT and 3LT interior. Something that would let me configure the car with different wheels, brake caliper colors, interior and exterior package, visible carbon or painted roofs, the black mirror and rear spoiler option, etc.

IMO this should have been available when orders began to be accepted. The fact that GM is accepting orders without a configurator available, leaving so many questions without good answers (mostly in the looks department), seems more likely to be detrimental to sales than not having a configurator.

But, I'm the kind of person that plays with the configurator 30 times before settling, so maybe my perspective is skewed.

-T