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No chance it will ever happen for many of the reasons already suggested, but there may be some food for thought in the way Hyundai is handling their new upscale Genesis brand: "A dealership within a dealership" it's been called. Different, more upscale area of the showroom, different service entrance and policies, more focused on top-notch customer experience in both sales and service. The participating Hyundai dealers can offer more of the high-end experience yet still be profitable based on the sales of the rest of the Hyundai line. This is most likely a temporary move for Hyundai and eventually Genesis will have it's own dealerships but it takes time to build brand loyalty.
Some my friends who own non-GM high end sports and luxury cars worry more about the crappy GM dealerships and not so much about the cars themselves. Most agree the Cadillac is a quality product and that the Corvette is a world-class sports car, but their fear is the ownership experience when it come to buying and servicing their car.
Some my friends who own non-GM high end sports and luxury cars worry more about the crappy GM dealerships and not so much about the cars themselves. Most agree the Cadillac is a quality product and that the Corvette is a world-class sports car, but their fear is the ownership experience when it come to buying and servicing their car.
Boy, do I echo this sentiment!! There is a Chevrolet dealership in every small town and many, only slightly larger ones, that have an odd Corvette on the floor. Does that dealership really have the technicians that can do justice to the line? Only they can tell but a bad repair or service experience is hard to mend.
I read this argument last year in a magazine. Car & Driver maybe? Personally I don’t think it’ll happen but I’d never say never as Chrysler was trying to give it a shot with SRT and that lasted all of two years. I do think the Corvette brand stands stronger than the SRT brand. I think the problem lies in anlienting purists. Although people said they same about Porsche when they introduced the Boxster. And the Cayenne. And the Panamera. It clearly worked out well for them as they’re now more profitable than ever. Porsche didn’t branch out to it’s own brand or try to make 911 its own brand, they just expanded their scope.
I do think though if Chevy does go for the stand alone Corvette brand they won’t be making dealers service them separately or try to take the car too high end. I’d think every dealer can still get at least a few “regular” allocations a year, though maybe not the more special cars like a ZR1.
Last edited by Mr Triple Black; 07-02-2018 at 08:05 AM.
If a dealer wants to, and has the volume to justify it, they can create a separation. My dealer has a separate Cadillac/Corvette showroom and building. They also do big volume.
If Corvette became it's own brand:
The car would be more difficult to purchase, as there would be fewer dealers selling them.
This would result in fewer Corvette sales overall. In turn, production would drop, increasing the per unit cost and thus the cost of the car to the consumer, it would become more expensive.
Getting your Corvette serviced will become more difficult as well, fewer service centers, turn around time will be longer, and non warranty work will be more expensive. Not to mention that as turn around time increases, workmanship is liable to decrease.
You may or may not get the "red carpet" service you desire, but you will have to go further for it, and pay more to get it. But the reality is that you will be getting the same service you are now, since the service dept will be run by whatever dealership you are going to. Dealerships will not change so much, they just say something like "Joe Smith Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Corvette", in which case volume = money, money = priority, and the Corvette will be the lowest volume brand of the dealership. So the thought of "red carpet" service may backfire on ya.
Anyway, that's how I see it working out in the real world. The Corvette, GM, and the consumer are all better off just the way it is right now.
Corvette should absolutely be a separate brand, but still sold/serviced at either Chevrolet, or even better, Cadillac (higher prestige) dealerships. Kind of like how BMW does it with Mini Coopers.
Owners of high-end sports cars don't want a "Chevrolet" behind the name...it ruins the cachet of the vehicle associating it with a cheap brand.
Last edited by ArmchairArchitect; 07-02-2018 at 10:07 AM.
St. Jude Donor '06-'08-'10-'11-'12-'13 '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
Originally Posted by VETTE-NV
Some my friends who own non-GM high end sports and luxury cars worry more about the crappy GM dealerships and not so much about the cars themselves. Most agree the Cadillac is a quality product and that the Corvette is a world-class sports car, but their fear is the ownership experience when it come to buying and servicing their car.
Corvette should absolutely be a separate brand, but still sold/serviced at either Chevrolet, or even better, Cadillac (higher prestige) dealerships. Kind of like how BMW does it with Mini Coopers.
Owners of high-end sports cars don't want a "Chevrolet" behind the name...it ruins the cachet of the vehicle associating it with a cheap brand.
How many models would it take to make a brand and would that leave the Camero to be the flagship sportscar of Chevy?
How many models would it take to make a brand and would that leave the Camero to be the flagship sportscar of Chevy?
The magazine article I read said the Camaro would be the new flagship. But Corvette already has its own emblem/symbol so I don’t think it would be all too difficult to transfer to a stand alone brand. Just don’t alienate the core buyers.
Corvette splinting into its own Corp would be an amazing thing.
It would mean Corvette could finally get the quality control that is impossible to achieve through GM. No more penny pincers cutting out important components, upgrades, coating mil thickness's, etc... at the last minute to make a number.
Where and when did he say it? Please give an exact citation along with an exact quote. Thanks.
I did a quick google, and found exactly the opposite in this piece by Bob Lutz from January 2015. It confirms that if not for the financial crisis, the C7 would have been the mid-engine. Possibly Tadge was responding to a question regarding the C7 being a ME.
Notable quotes:
Tadge Juechter had a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating, very credibly, that the C6 ZR1 was at the limit of usable rear-wheel-drive performance. The problemwas really the front-mid-engine layout—we couldn't get the engine low enough and far back enough for proper weight transfer to the rear wheels under acceleration.
I didn't want to move out of our price class, but Tadge explained that while the transmission would cost more, the list price would increase by no more than $5000. Imagine an American-built car with the proportions of a Lamborghini at that price point …that's pretty appealing.
Later, in March 2015 Tadge is quoted as saying he knows nothing. Yeah right. A little hard to believe.
As World Car Fans reported, when asked about renewed mid-engined Corvette speculation on John McElroy's Autoline After Hours, Juechter denied knowledge, stating: "I'll have to check that out, because I know no such car exists."
Corvette should absolutely be a separate brand, but still sold/serviced at either Chevrolet, or even better, Cadillac (higher prestige) dealerships. Kind of like how BMW does it with Mini Coopers.
I am guessing it depends where you live - where we live, the Mini dealers are stand-alones, just like Cadillac, Porsche and Ferrari.
There is no need to make Corvette a brand - GM has enough brands. What GM needs is to force its dealers to provide better service - whether you go to Chevy, GMC or Cadillac - none of them are even close to Acura, BMW, Honda, Lexus, Jeep or Mercedes.
Last edited by LIStingray; 07-03-2018 at 08:53 AM.
GM just killed off the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Saturn brands. Slim chance the Corvette line becomes its own brand.
The reason Corvette outsells all other sports cars is its affordable price. While the performance makes it an incredible value, statistics show there is an incredible drop off in sales volume for any sports car line as the price increases.
The reason the incredible performance of the Corvette is available at a base price of $55,495 is the fact that it is sold, serviced and utilizes similar engines, transmissions, and electronics along with the high-volume Chevrolet products.
I hear my friends complain about the cost of service for their Porsches or BMWs. I just dropped my C7 off for some warranty work at Lone Star Chevrolet here in Houston. They were knowledgeable, polite, and gave me a loner vehicle for the duration. Service costs are nothing compared to Porsche. I don't need anything fancier - especially if it increases the cost of my Vette purchase or service.
IMHO, the real issue is expanding the Corvette model line-up to include C8 FE, ME and a crossover. Corvette doesn't need the expense of being a separate brand to expand the line. Back in 1969, you could buy 5 different body styles/models of Impalas - it didn't need to be a separate brand.
Corvette could easily expand its high-performance line-up while still remaining cost-effective by continuing to piggyback on the Chevrolet volume and dealer network.
Does all of this commentary make you think that people will be willing to pay for what some have said could be as much as $150k or more for some versions of the C8 ME when it arrives?
The cars performance is one thing, but the total experience of owning the car has to be on par with other high competitors to get that kinda money.
07-01-2018, 08:28 PM
