VETTE-NV

I sure hope you're right.

I don't think there's any question that the car will be built at BG (major expansion recently) and is being developed by Corvette engineers....but I just don't see the logic right now. Cadillac needs a mind-blowing halo car much more than Chevy. Chevy already has one that continues to be very successful. No need to fix what isn't broken....not yet, anyway. I can't see GM taking the focus off the upcoming ZR1 and the current Vette lineup for at least two or three more years....so either production of the ME is way down the road, or its not a Corvette.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not rooting for it to be a Cadillac. I hope I'll be writing that check to a Chevy dealer in a couple of years. But a few minor styling cues and an emblem are all that will be required to make that car a Caddy. I just don't see the need for a $120-150K Corvette right now, but I do see the need for such a car to attract customers into Cadillac showrooms.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope the first ME is the high-performance 2020 Corvette and a dumbed down (cheaper) version becomes the C8 a year or two later. I suppose Cadillac could have own it's version at the same time...priced a little higher with a bit more luxury. It's been done before.

sunsalem

WHY would GM want to brand one of their SUVs as a "Corvette?"
Sure, they never have had a high performance SUV, but still....
Too much of a gamble IMO.

KrisColoradoLV

If GM is considering the mid-engine car to be a Cadillac first, I think that's a mistake. Corvette should be promoted as the top GM car. If it is not currently GM's best, then it should be made to be. It would be like saying the four door Maserati is the top Italian car, and oh yeah, we have this two door Ferrari over here too. That's backwards. While I'm on this topic of a mid-engine Corvette, it is not something that you can do market research on to predict sales. Most current or past Corvette buyers won't give an accurate assessment of a mid-engine car because they love the Corvette that they have, or had. They won't realize how much they would like it until they actually see one up close, in person, on the road. You can't go by what is said on this Forum either, it seems like most of the people that comment, in this C8 section at least, are either Cadillac or Corvette salesmen. Trying to boost Cadillac or sell current C7s. Build the mid-engine, and they will come. Along with people that have never bought a Corvette before.


Sometimes in poker if you're not sure if you should call or fold, ...try raising or go all-in. Do both a mid-engine Cadillac and a Corvette at the same time. I think the Cadillac should be a four door though, with four or five seats. Yes, it will all fit. Look at the Lamborghini (Chrysler) Portofino https://jalopnik.com/that-time-lambo...ysl-1539006273 A four door, mid-engine Cadillac Hybrid would be cool.

roadbike56

The argument that Caddy needs something big because they're in trouble makes sense. However it is absurd to argue that Cadillac is the safer bet because of some recent racing success, because it fails to consider their past utter failures to market a 2 seater vs the complete, consistent success of Chevy to market a high performance 2 seater for over 60 years.
You believe Caddy will get the ME, you might be correct, but it's not because Chevy can't beat the snot out of Caddy marketing a high performance sports car. There's only ONE car marketed with the name "Corvette" and it's a Chevy and a total success.

A GAMBLE????
Lets see, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Porsche all have SUVs. Ferrari will soon follow their lead. The question is, What the hell is Corvette waiting for? The risk is NOT coming out with a high performance SUV and holding to the purist sports car marketing approach. Do we really need to wait to see if Lambo comes out with one?

jimmyb

Cadillac already has a couple of SUV's, several Sedans.......with a couple of them having a high performance engine. If GM believed there was a market for a high performance luxury SUV, then all they have to do is install the 650 HP LT4 in the Cadillac escalade and charge accordingly.

Why duplicate those by slapping a Corvette label on the grille.

GM would only would be in competition with themselves, as they don't need two "premium" brands.

My point is that Cadillac is well on it's way to being a "SUV" brand, I bet well over half of that 182,000 units is SUV's. A ME car isn't going to drive folks to Cadillac sedans, anymore than the Audi R8 has driven folks to Audi sedans or the NSX has driven folks to Acura sedans.

And I'm continually amazed at how flippant we are about Corvette sales. 32,000 TWO SEAT sports cars is remarkable business. That's more sports cars than Porsche 911/Cayman/Boxster plus Mazda MX-5 PUT TOGETHER. Give Porsche a call and ask them if they would like to sell 32,000 911/Boxster/Caymans a year....

Lamborghini SUV is on the way, based on the Bentley

Bill Dearborn

It will be both. Corvette ultimate performance and Caddy Luxury Touring. The problem is if they make it a Caddy there isn't a large market for 2 seat luxury touring cars. The world wide sales of those kinds of cars is pretty small. Even if you end up leading the sales figures in that market you still aren't selling a lot of cars.

Bill

JoesC5

I disagree. let's look at Mercedes...the leading luxury brand in the world.

They have these two seaters.....

SLC roasters
SL roadster
AMG SL63
AMG SL65
AMG SLC43
AMG GT
AMG GT S
AMG GT C
AMG GT R

Those are not bare boned, brass knuckled sports cars that can't be driven over 80 miles without a trip to the chiropractor.

Plus the Acura $159,000 NSX is not a bare boned, brass knuckled two seat sports car, either. It's a high performance luxury touring car.

jimmyb

^^^^^
Sadly, the NSX is, to this point, a resounding sales disaster, so let's hope that whatever brand the GM ME car goes to, it does a LOT better than the NSX.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2013/07...sa-canada.html

PS. A luxury "touring" car with a 4 cubic foot trunk? Better not be an overnight tour. I'm pretty certain Honda doesn't consider the NSX a "luxury touring car"

RJ-92

Wow, those are bad.

jimmyb

^^^^
They are abysmal. The NSX was shown/talked about in several wildly divergent forms (a front engine V10 was the first talk 5 or 6 years ago). They did that great commercial with Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld and then didn't have a car to actually sell for 4 years.

JoesC5

As a touring car, none of them come close to the C5, C6 and C7. Comfortable, lots of space, and great fuel mileage.

Maybe GM shouldn't mess with a proven platform. They screw it up and they could end up like the NSX.

BTW, the Mercedes cargo space....

SL---13.5 cu ft top up and 8.5 cu ft top down.

SLC--10.0 cu ft top up and 6.4 cu ft top down.

GT---12.4 cu ft(coupe)

Compare to the Tesla Model 3 with 15 cu ft, and the C6 coupe with 22.4 cu ft and the C5 with 25 cu ft and the C7 with 15 cu ft.

jimmyb

I still believe the mid engine car to be an addition, not a replacement, for the front engine platform. I still believe that 2021 will see the "C8", which will be a update of the C7.

PS. I also believed that they would never do a C7GS.....

Quinten33

I do think that the ME layout will make its way to the Corvette after the Caddy comes out, but the C8 won't come along for 2 or 3 years. The ZR1 has to sell for a while, and it will, and there hasn't been a major drop in C7 sales as it is. I say Chevy should make the C8 Mid-engine but introduce it 3 years after the ZR1. The ZR1 looks on track to be a 2018 model year car, which puts the C8 at 2020. Don't expect to see any next gen Corvette testing until the ZR1 is on sale, unless it is the ME prototype.

Lambo just got caught testing theirs at the 'Ring again lol. I don't care much for performance SUVs. Oversized rims with thin tires, bad attempts at capturing styling cues of sports cars, and I just mistook a Kia Sportage for a Porsche Macan. Land Rover, However, is a different story.

I say Chevy should make a Corvette sedan and a matching wagon, both with C7 engines. Toss in all-electric and performance hybrid options and call it a win for everyone. The CTS- V wagon is one of my favorite cars, and the new AMG wagons aren't far off. A mid engine variant and a smaller, more sporty version (like a 718 is to the 911) would round off the lineup.

JoesC5

If the so-called ZR1 is shown at the Detroit auto show, then it will most likely be a 2019 model, going into production in June 2018.

Then maybe last for 3 model years(2019, 2020, & 2021 models). That would make the C8 a 2022 model, to go into production in June of 2021.

Pure speculation, but based on past history.

FAUEE

This is the most rational and realistic pos ft so fsr. I could see the years being off by 1 or 2, the zr1 as a 2018 and some refreshes for 2019 (slight hp bump, interior upgrades, new styling cues, the usual). Then the onslaught of special editions. And then in 22 or 23 a C8, based on the C7.

the mid engine car would be meant to try to position Caddy as a serious high dollar contender. The sort of "if we can beat Ferrari, imagine what we did compared to BMW" sort of thing. It will fail, because Caddy just isn't reinventing itself as anytanything other than a car for drug dealers and geriatrics. But that's besides point. The relatively poor sales of the XLR won't matter, that car was a product planning disaster. And it certainly won't keep them from trying again, they've been trying for over a decade to change the Caddy image and haven't given up, and have similar lack of success.

The ME Caddy comes out, then the car mags run articles about when the chevy/ccrvette version will come out. The publicity machine will keep churning and we will have endless more of these silly threads.

BOBSZ06

Both the Cadillac and Corvette models will be of the ME flavor.

When I purchased my Chevy Avalanche, I also had the option to buy a Cadillac Escalade instead.
Very similar in functionality, style and options, but the Caddy was a little more posh.

My Avalanche is all wheel drive.
The EXT models were discontinued after the 2013 model year along with the Avalanche.....both were built in Mexico.

That's the thing...If there is a Caddy ME it will be just a little different like the Escalade was to get some Corvette people to go for it.
They won't be built in Mexico for sure, but at Bowling Green!

Steve Garrett

I love reading these threads. Now we're believing transport drivers!!!!


This is better than watching TMZ.

roadbike56

Thanks jimmyb, I didn't know. Even Lambo will beat Corvette to the SUV market.

Virtual Geezer

Maybe, to people 55 and older. Most people I know, young and old, consider GM trucks, SUVs and crossovers desirable -- the cars, not so much. In terms of prestige and performance, the German sedans, coupes and crossovers are on top with Lexus trailing as the 'dependable' one. Cadillac, although trying as hard as corporate will let it, still falls short, especially in terms of interior quality and refinement.

I've been comparison shopping lately, and although I've been a lifelong GM fanboy, seeing is believing.

PS -- The 'halo effect' of the new Ford GT may be sticking in GM's craw. Perhaps their mid-engined car, probably priced well under the Ford, will be GM's retaliation.

JerriVette

Corvette owners often have cuv s as their second vehicle. Sure most of us own Cadillacs in addition to corvettes but if their was a sporting corvette cuv...I'd bet a ton of corvette owners would keep their low mileage garage queens and add that corvette cuv for bragging rights ..

Although I agree porsche makes beautiful interiors the cost of operation on these german cars and cuvs ridiculous...especially out of warranty..
Say what you will about American made products like corvette...I believe these vehicles made by GM are pretty much change the oil add gas and go vehicles....

I love that feature about American cars...American manufacturers understand American car ownership...most of us are pretty much glad we remember to change the oil...

The upkeep of older german cars like the BMW s is ridiculous...

American car and trucks are built for minimal care by their owners..

I also believe GM powertrains are among the best in the world..

Interestingly enough..I think an all electric corvette cuv would kick butt on the porsche Macan....in performance and handling.

I consider the porsches Macan one of the finest marketing moves in he industry..

GM would do well to follow suit but use an all electric power train to get tesla model S ludicrious mode levels of performance ce..

It would shine on the entire GM lineup.

That's all just ridiculous speculation on my part but it would be a goldmine move..

I also believe corvette owners would buy a corvette cuv for themselves a son a daily driver or for their spouses..

Jmo