Vernon

I, too, agree with B747VET's points and the Corvette Action Centre article that front and mid-engine platforms will continue to expand the market offerings of the Corvette platform. It's a good time for GM to make investments of this type in the U.S.A. The post recession historical evidence for venturing deeper in to US vehicle 🚗 production of top tier products is quantifiable. And us auto enthusiasts can continue to dream/realize our dreams as a result!

FAUEE

GM is a business, that exists to make money. Corvette, as it sits, makes big, giant, massive PILES of money. People will line up to buy them, no matter how good or bad they are. GM knows this.

So with that fact stated, let's look at things that makes sense - not sell magazines (because at this point, the media gives 0 ***** about factuality, they care about moving units). The C7 appeared as a 2014 model, and still sells quite well. They haven't even given the car a mid cycle refresh yet, and people are claiming it's basically dead in a year. Not gonna happen. The C7 will need to continue on until 2022 or 2023 at least to live out its full life cycle, anything less loses money.

So there's a lot of things saying that there's something mid engine coming, and a lot of weird corvette mules running around! Obviously it's a Corvette right? No, it could be a LOT of other things, and putting corvette body panels on it makes it attract less attention than having all new bodywork on it.

So what do you sell it as? It's going to be expensive, so selling it as a Chevy doesn't make a ton of sense. Meanwhile, you're pouring millions of dollars into Cadillac to try to give it some recognition as a sports oriented luxury car maker, and not having a ton of success in the market. So you give them a top tier race team, you send out prototype cars that are slathered in Caddy logos, and then to cap it off, you unveil a halo midengine car that "has DNA from our race car". BMW and Mercedes don't have a midengined supercar, so in a way, you've bested them. Surely people will be drawn in by that car and leave in an ATS.

This also avoids the issue of potentially damaging your revenue stream from Corvette, or from cutting the C's life cycle short.

So here's the logical thing that happens. The midengine car is unveiled as a Caddy, with a DOHC V8 with 650+ hp. Then, a year or so later, you unveil a C7 ZR1 with this same engine. Then, a year after that, you put it into a range topping CTS-V.R thing. A year after that, you put it in a Camaro Z/28.

This is what makes the most financial, business, and logical sense. Let's not forget, that this mid-engine car will likely sell for double what a C7 sells for. The cost of developing an entirely new platform is immense, MUCH more than developing a platform that "shares virtually no components from the old car" but is truly not that dissimilar.

Vernon

Makes good business sense FAUEE...logical economies of scale. It may be that a Corvette ME will hit market first for the full-on sport market followed by a Cadillac luxury version (might include a ME convertible).
Good speculation, and as others have said, time will tell.

FAUEE

^^^I don't see any benefit in branding it as a Corvette. It gets too murky, and isn't the direction you could build sales in Corvette as a "brand" from. If Corvette were to become a brand, building a sedan, and a Crossover would be where you start.

So then there's that. What if all this hoopla about it being midengine is TOTALLY WRONG? What if the reason the mules look funny is they lengthened the platform because it's going to seat 4 now? Surely a 4 door car based on Corvette would sell many times more, and make FAR more money than a midengine car would...

Food for thought. Maybe the midengine car isn't real at all, just a sedan or CUV in development.

JoesC5

The latest update is that there is no update. 100% speculation on all fronts.

vettefool

yep, I've been reading about an upcoming mid-engine Corvette since the mid-60's. yeah they made some test vehicles but that's it. maybe this time it will happen, maybe..

B747VET

There is zero question as to whether there is a GM ME high performance sports car in final development and testing. The only question is whether it is going to be a Corvette, a Chevrolet, a Cadillac or an Oldsmobile.

moose.b3

"an Oldsmobile" I really doubt it. But then again they could bring back "it's not your father's Oldsmobile".

B747VET

I should have thrown in ... "or a Corvair"

vetteLT193

Piles of money... not really. This is why GM almost killed the corvette. The car has been profitable but hardly so relative to other platforms.

I'M corvette is really kept around as a slightly (relative) car that pushes technology and is great at marketing. It has been said the corvette sells more other chevys than it sells itself because there is a little bit of corvette in every chevy.

When GM looks at profits they are looking at platforms that sell millions, at least a couple hundred thousand per year. A me vetted will be 99.9 percent marketing

Z51JEFF

The same people were bitchin when GM went back to exposed headlights in 2005.

DesertDog56

Interesting but I don't understand what aspect is new technology from reading this article.


http://www.corvetteonline.com/news/i...o-the-corvette

MacMulkin

You can read the actual patent application at the Corvette Action Center:

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...-the-corvette/

JW Gears

All the speculation is great fun. As Corvette guys and gals, we are very fortunate that GM wants the Corvette to be relevant, and has made the investment in the future of our favorite car with the Bowling Green expansion. Regardless of the direction GM takes with the C-8 or C-9 or C-10, if history is any indicator- they will continue to exceed anyone's expectations with a Corvette that will be world class. If you think back to those dark days in the late 70's with 165 Hp Corvettes and questionable quality; did you ever think you would see something as powerful and well made as the C-7? To me, if GM can go from the dismal '77 Corvette to the incredible 2017 Z-06, after being bankrupt, they can do anything! Everyone should just sit back, relax, and be patient for whatever Corvette is offered for us to enjoy. The obsession to try and predict the next direction of the Corvette by individuals and the press is probably somewhat entertaining for Tadge, Harlan, and the other decision makers within GM.

JoesC5

^^^^^

"dark days" are only relevant to those days. They sold 49,213 1977 Corvettes, even with it's 165 HP and "questionable quality" and in it's ninth year of production. You have to look at what else was available at that time. Just about every car for sale in 1977 was low on horsepower and low on quality.

Yes the C4, C5, C6 and the C7 has more horsepower, and better quality(maybe?), but even with a much larger car buying market in 2017, the Corvette will not even come close to selling 49,213 2017 Corvettes. Probably less than 30,000, based on sales in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

JW Gears

Hi Joe, you are correct. It was always a mystery why over 49,000 were sold in 1977, and why '76, '78, '79, and '80 numbers were so large. Some have speculated that so many baby boomers were in their prime earning years or were getting that Corvette they always wanted. I sold Corvettes back then, and saw this on a daily basis. There was not much to choose from that was made in this country. Also, the price of all cars was going through the roof due to inflation. Some felt that GM didn't raise the prices on Corvettes enough or at the same rate as other cars, and the car represented an incredible value. The very real fact was, that the quality was very poor. Not to tell war stories, but I had to test drive every Corvette I sold before delivery to get everything repaired properly. I averaged 4 to 5 major problems and 6 to 8 minor issues on every Corvette off the transporter. The record was 23 items on a well equipped '74 convertible. Fortunately, the zone office was very understanding, and repairs were approved. We actually felt that those high production numbers resulted in getting everything out the of the factory asap. The dealers were the final quality inspectors. The public didn't have to experience problems, because we made sure everything was taken care of before delivery. Our dealer techs were the best, and in many cases found more issues that they corrected. Today's quality is far superior to those "good old days".

JerriVette

I would...I'm not afraid of first model years. Of course the pricing is crazy and the general tends to upgrade something in year two...usually the transmission gets upgraded...or at least it's been that way for about a decade or so..

Jake5670

Corvette-Dan

Count me as one who wants a front engine Corvette to live on, regardless of what else is offered.

Long live Zora!

jay23ls

So ppl are putting money down or deposits on a car that they don't know for sure will be built and if it does it might not even be under the Corvette brand... this is too perfect of an example of American consumerism haha

Dealerships = banks right now