RickConti@Coughlin

We broke this story on one of my vlogs a while back and now being confirmed by other websites and media sources. ( my buddies at Corvetteblogger )

The Corvette Assembly plant will be shut down for several months after the 2017 model year completes!

The closure will come at the end of the 2017 model year which is expected to end in June. The shut down is expected to last around three months but the exact time frame remains fluid.

GM announced a $290 million investment for the Corvette assembly plant in June 2016 that would “upgrade and modify the plant’s vehicle assembly operations with new technologies and processes”, according to the official press release issued by GM.

Multiple sources have said that the plant will operate at maximum capacity up until the end of the 2017 model year to produce a supply of Corvettes to be sold while production is halted. The assembly plant will then shut down to undergo a massive upgrade of the assembly line, which has been in place since the start of the C5 in 1997.

Following the completion of the plant upgrades, the 2018 model year production will commence.

It is believed that once the upgrades are complete, the plant will continue building the C7 Corvettes as 2018 models. Widely expected is a new addition to the C7 line-up, the 2018 Corvette ZR1, which has been under development for the last year.

The work on the assembly plant comes as the $439 million paint shop is due to be completed in the spring. Plant officials have publicly stated that the first customer cars to be painted in the new facility will happen in the fall of 2017.

The last regularly scheduled tours end on June 16th. There are three dates in August available, from Monday, August 21st through Wednesday, August 23rd, but after that the plant tours are closed through the end of the year.

We will do all we can to keep the shelves full for your purchase opportunities during this transition.
Great future for Corvette, thumbs up!

Jmcdude

Why do they still have tours dates in August if the plant shuts down in June? If you can't see cars being built what's the point?

Snowwolfe

Kind if hard to operate at maximum capacity if they already are going to close the plant one day a week:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...work-week.html

Makes it difficult to believe anything the "sources" said is accurate.

Scoobydoobydoo

Wonder how this will effect rebates/incentives/ pricing on the 2017's

RickConti@Coughlin

maybe they will have something going on to see, but regular retail production will be down until ready to fire on all cylinders I would imagine

RickConti@Coughlin

Good question.....

Could go either way,

We get support from GM to keep moving forward, or they do nothing because their focus is on the future....

I would imagine, we see support, already starting the year off good, I think though, certain options, etc will become VERY tough to get as the year of production comes to an end.

For us, we will be as flexible as possible to keep rolling...

WhiteDiamond!

Quite possible we might see some new body panels or interior upgrades on the 2018 models.

Randy G.

Since the C6 ZR1 was about $40K more than the C6 Z06 if memory serves me correctly, I wonder if the fully loaded C7 ZR1 will be in the $140-$150 range?

jagamajajaran

That's a good question. I personally do not think the plant is going to shut down in June. I think it's going to shut down in August and then we probably won't see 2018 MY production start up until Late November or early December. Like I've often said, time will tell.

DickieDoo

Or possibly provisions for a mid engine chev and or Cadillac sister.

monicatomokc

Well... Don't they normally start production of the next model year in and around the June time frame? So if they finish up the 2017s about then, it kinda makes sense to shut down then, make the changes for starting up the 2018 line in mid/late September for them to roll into the dealerships mid/late October. But then again, that might be tooo logical!

jagamajajaran

^^^ Yes, that's typical. But with the announcement that they are going to paint all 2018s in the new paint shop, things aren't quite normal with regard to the MY change over this year. What I do know is that it's going to take at least a few months for them to spend the $290 million on the existing facility, and I fully anticipate that equating to at least a three month plant shut down. I expect an official announcement coming soon about all of this.

Borntorun04/17

Have they or when will they announce last date to be able to order a 2017 GS. Second what about buyers tour that I 'm thinking about doing ? I'm thinking I would have to order by early May to be able to also do buyers tour. Last at bash the new colors will be out for 2018 will they also have info on any other option or Engine / tranny changes ? Thanks Dave

Patman

I wonder if some of the workers there will end up being laid off for those three months? Or will they find work for all of them in the capacity of getting things set up again?

JimNeedsC7

A shutdown makes a lot of sense to me. It kills the oversupply of C7's currently out there, allows GM to smoothly integrate the new production facilities and then have a hungry market when the 2018's hit the ground. Seems like a win-win-win for GM and a bit of an inconvenience for buyers. It does not seem that it should be a problem if you plan accordingly.

It appears that GM is making smart business decisions on this one. That is the point in a for profit company, right?

harryj

The NCCC convention is in Bowling Green Aug 20 thru Aug 25. The info in the convention packet stated that we could book tours for the plant that week. Not sure if they opened the plant for tours just for the NCCC convention but it makes sense as approx. 500 vettes will be in attendance. Just a guess but I'm happy we can tour the plant while we're there.

sunsalem

Sounds like some more good info on the availability of the ZR1 (EOY or 1st part of 2018).




Can anyone shed some light on just what EXACTLY is this new paint facility supposed to bring to the table?
I'm very curious about all this money being spent for such a project...

fumbling

Will the April bash have more to say about the end of production/start of production for the 2017 and 2018 models? There would be time after the bash to still order the 2017s if it looks like the 2018 model production will be pushed back a few months, right?

rmorin1249

Wow, this is going to make for a very interesting Bash this year. Regret I won't be able to make it but confident there will be those that will keep all of us informed by using this forum.

themonk

wow, almost half a billion just to "add" to an existing paint shop, that nuckin' futs.