Foosh

I have absolutely nothing against the A8 or any other automatic transmission. I'm simply perplexed as to why it has been problematic, and why GM hasn't been able to get a handle on it. With all the buzz, I simply wondered if that's affecting sales since almost 80% of C7s are manufactured as A8s.

I think you're the one being silly here.

thill444

Yep.

Porsche 911 sales were down 26% YOY for March and 8% for April. They have been consistently down

Porsche Cayman sales are down 52% YOY for April, and 51% for March!

This isn't just a Corvette problem. When I said the entire US market was down 5% year over year, I think what is keeping that number from being even higher is SUV sales, which have been increasing. Cars are in the toilet as buyers continue to move into SUV's.

Example Porsche Macan sales are way up for 2017. In the last two months alone sales are up near 50%. Clearly people who may have been in the market for a 911 or Cayman are buying Macan's instead.

JoesC5

That was the whole concept behind the Saturn brand. It didn't work out. Saturn eventually started selling at discounts just like every other brand.

thill444

The problem is GM has been doing these rebates, tag events, discounts, etc for so long as a company I think people expect them now and will wait to buy. So just lowering the price will not solve the problem, the problem is they have created this mess and cannot culturally change it now.

Same with Ford, Chrysler/Dodge, etc.

JoesC5

The "fancy" brake option was available for BOTH the GS and Z06 not JUST for the Z06 as you posted.

For awhile the base "iron" brakes were under constraint and if you wanted a Z06 OR a GS, you had to also order the "fancy" brake option.

True that very few wanted the "fancy" brakes, but the dealers had to take them if they wanted Bowling Green to build any GS's and Z06's for their dealership.

That's why GM is giving the discount on Z06's AND GS's with the "fancy" brakes, as they are just sitting on the dealer's lots, unsold.

JoesC5

The auto manufacturers don't want to change. With the way it is, when a new model is hot, they can sell a bunch at, or near, the inflated MSRP; then when it's not a hot model a couple of years later, they discount it down to a lower price(at a price where they still make money, just not as much).

Did the buyers of the 2014's that paid near MSRP wait until 2017 when the prices were 10-15% lower? How about the buyers of 2015's when they could only get maybe a 3-4% discount? Did they wait until 2017, how about the buyers of the 2016's? The buyers of 2015's and 016's paid the prevailing price at the time for their Corvettes, as sales numbers clearly show.

Why would any retailer want to give up several years of sales at the inflated prices, by lowering the MSRP?

cor28vettes

Pickup trucks and large SUV's are in. Passenger cars and vettes are not.

direct007

Car sales are cyclical. This same pattern happens every decade and usually coincides with the economy in general. A few great years in the middle of the 10 year cycle and then a slowdown. Remember 2007? Remember 1997? Remember 1987? I'm hoping we aren't facing another recession as in decades past, but all the signs are here now for another economic slowdown fast approaching.

thill444

I don't disagree with you but the problem with this model (inflated MSRP and using tons of rebates to discount) is resale value. It kills it. The is the first American car company sports car I have ever bought and the resale value on these cars almost made me pass on it. My last three Japanese sports cars I owned were sold at or near MSRP but also held their value tremendously. I drove a 2015 WRX for almost two years and traded the car in for $1200 less than I bought it. And that $1200 includes taxes, fees, etc. But Subaru rarely, if ever, offers big discounts on them. At best volume dealers will sell them at or slightly below invoice.

This model rebate/incentive also makes buyers skeptical because they always wonder if a better rebate is around the corner so they wait. This forum is full of people like this. They are buying a $50-100K car but will wait months to save another $1-5K.

Rocky51

Corvette Museum members qualify for GM supplier pricing. You may want to call NCM and see how long that will be in effect. In addition to the Corvette loyalty discount that makes for a decent deal.

Snowwolfe

Resale value is a matter of buying smart in the first place. The more options, the higher the cost, the more you will lose come resell time. I don't think anyone would dispute the best bang for the buck is a base coupe Stingray.
This is similar with all models and make. The more fluff you buy, the more you lose down the line.

thill444

That's true of most cars. But still the minute you buy that base Stingray, if you try to trade it in it will be worth about $8-10K less than what you paid out the door for it. Most dealers are not going to give you more than high $30's or very low $40's on a base Stingray (even less than 1 year old with low mileage).

RedC7AZ

GM plays pricing games.

My 2014 had MSRP of $62,000. I paid $57,000 in Feb. 2014. An 8% discount from Criswell.

My same configuration MSRPs at $65,500 as a 2017 or 2018 model.

Buyers can order this configuration as a 2018 from forum dealers for about the same price (57k), but now that represents a 13% discount.

GM has played on the buyer's desire for deep discounts, but in reality they are paying the same price for basically the same car that was available 3+ years ago.

joemessman

I was all ready to pull the trigger on a Z06 until the reality of the ZR1 came to fruition. Now I'm on the sidelines for a while to determine when it will become available and if I can stand the wait. Otherwise I would be in a Z06 by now. So I'm a prime example of why some sales that could have been made didn't happen.

SouthOCBoy

Hey GM, If you're listening/reading this here's how to get me into one sooner than later. My Corvette jar is about six months away from being full. I could pull the trigger now if there was 0% financing. Also, it looks like I'm going to have to order a Z06 because the CA dealers order mostly automatics with a bunch of options that I don't want to pay for. A black on black 3LZ manual with geezer chrome rims will get me in the door.

sunsalem

This A8 is problematic idea is an internet myth invented by those who think any Corvette without a 3rd pedal has been cursed by Satan.

Every car model in existence has some transmission (or engine)failures...anything built by humans can break.
The A8 isn't an exception to this rule, but there is no indication it has a higher failure rate than other auto transmissions.
And no, let's NOT go back and re-hash this thing again...it has been discussed to death on this website.

Unless you plan on tracking it > 50% of the time, forget the ZR1.
The Z06 has all the power and speed any sane person could want in a street environment.

mschuyler

Oh, dear! Did I make a mistake? Drat! Now, what was my point again? That this huge incentive doesn't really mean much BECAUSE it's of use to only a small percentage of buyers. It is option specific instead of model specific. To be useful in terms of helping sales an incentive has to be more broad-based and reach more buyers. There, does that make it okay for you now?

RedC7AZ

Tell that to the numerous A8 owners with headaches.

I'm an A6 owner, but feel for A8 owners who have had a rough time.

cor28vettes

Actually GM notched record profit & revenue in the first quarter to the tune of a 34% jump = 2.6B net income. Very robust and strong. Truck factories at GM are running full-on to meet demand. The passenger car market is a different story. That forced GM in recent months to cut production, laying off more than 4K workers.

SivaSuryaKshatriya

235/35/18 and 245/35/18's are very common tire sizes. I wouldn't be concerned about those ever not being researched properly, or going into limited production.