jefnvk

The Demon was always slated to be a limited run, exclusive production line. The Redeye is just a way to fill the "above Hellcat performance" demand without pissing off the folks who bought a Demon at an inflated price thinking it would be a limited edition.

JerryU

Hmm, have you considered the unintended consequences IF GM were foolish enough to follow your suggestion? For the few folks who would buy the C8, it would mean the end of jobs at Bowling Green, closing the plant and no doubt Mary Barra being fired by the Board for such a foolish decision.

But then again all those under 25, still living at home, who agree with you but have no money to buy one, will have a large C8 poster on their bedroom wall so they can tell all their friends, "See GM can beat the best!"

pietro c7

JerryU

^^^
Yep I recall mine was Marilyn Monroe and a 1954 Austin Healey.
.
Twins across the street came back from the service and bought a pair of matching green ones! But the "older teenager" who lived next to them bought a George Barris chopped '50 Merc lead sled! It had lots of lead as it was cracking and he and his car club buddies were removing it and trying t do it with hammered metal. Not so easy, still needed lots of filler!

Loved those Healeys but they were never going to beat my buddies cars. So a few years later, spending all the money I make with my part time job in the supermarket, bought a '41 Ford Opera Coupe and "stuffed" in an Olds engine! Olds or Caddy were the engine of choice "back-in-the-day." It was fast!

JoesC5

In 1959 I "stuffed" a Chevy engine into a 1953 Ford 2 door sedan( D/Gas). It was fast.
In 1961, I "stuffed" a Chevy engine into a 1932 ford 3 window coupe(A/Gas). It was even faster.
In 1968 I "stuffed" a 427 Chevy engine into a 1964 Malibu SS 2 door hardtop(street fighter). It was fast, but not as fast as my '32 A gasser.

TurboJunky

I'm just interpreting what has been posted. If this new Vette is 169k, then it would seem this is the "foolish" line of thinking GM is doing.

But thanks for thinking I'm 25 and living at home because 169k is "out of my price range" Now I know why I don't come here often and why GM can't seem to shed its "old man" image.

Foosh

The first 2019 C7 was produced on January 29, 2018. The last 2018 was built on January 26, 2018. My 2018 rolled off the line on January 22, 2018 and is identical to 2019s in every way. The ONLY difference was 2019s came filled with the new 0W-40 Mobil 1.

The ZR1 deliveries started in March/April 2018, so my calculations are based on 12 months of sales from then until April 2019. Thus, I said it appears the market for this particular $130K+ Corvette is about 2K units/year. That's also in the intro year when excitement would be at it's peak.

I think one can reasonably extrapolate from this that a C8 starting above $100K would sell in dramatically lower numbers than any generation since the C1. A reasonable projection would be well under 10K units annually.

jvp

I wouldn't argue that point in the least. I do truly believe that anyone who thinks the starting/base price of the C8 will be even kissing distance to 100K are delusional. That's not a base Corvette's playground.

Foosh

And supply chain costs go WAY up because you're ordering far fewer of the components unique to each. That would be passed down to consumers, and everyone would pay more for each model. Ordering the max number of parts in bulk can reduce the per part price by 50% or more, which is generally referred to as the "economy of scale" principle of mass production.

Yep, that was from March 2018. And Mr. Reuss simply dodged the FE question, and said that Corvette will not deviate from it's long-standing formula of offering high performance for much lower cost than the exotics.


Yes, they do, but an increase from $55K to $80K would be a 32% increase. You don't see companies doing that with any expectation of holding on to their market share. Adjustments in price upward are generally limited to less than 10% increments.

Telepierre

OK, I know the following data does not help the C8 better be cheap or death..camp..

But just for fun.. some stats for the C7 from corvette blogger:

Counted all Z06s and all ZR1s sold between CY2014 and CY2018. Note: Some ZR1s purchased but delivery in CY19 (see ZR1 registry).
Counted Z06 and ZR1 trim distribution in percentages and averaged/distributed them with stated 2018 MSRPs.

Total C7Z06 + C7ZR1 sales to date(2015-2018):8653+15868+7212+7880+1515=41128 AVG MSRP: $103,289

Total Corvette sales CY 2014 to 2018: 117730 %Z06 +ZR1= 35%

Granted, the trim distribution MSRP was not exact but we are in the +5/-5% margin of error.

Tax & delivery not counted.
It seems to me more than one third of the C7 clientele did not mind a 100K Corvette!?

My2C

Foosh

Because no where near 33% actually PAID $100K for a Corvette. I guarantee you that Z06 sales would not have been anywhere near as high as they were without a deep discount off sticker. ZR1 sales are round-off error at currently about 1400 sold.

However, you have perhaps inadvertently made my case for a reduction in Corvette sales from an average of 30K units per year during a gen run down to less than 10K at that price point.

JoesC5

Actually, going from $55K to $80K is a 45.4% increase in price. How much increase in price is the starting MSRP of the 911 over the starting price of the Cayman? Would you believe 99% increase? From $57.950 for the Cayman to $111,350 for the 911.

JoesC5

What if the sales annually were around 18,000 FE Corvettes(with new body panels to make it a "new" C8 generation). at a starting MSRP of $60K and then 10,000 ME Corvettes with a starting MSRP of $85K?

jefnvk

That would be like asking the increase in base price of the C8 compared to the Camaro.

The new 2020 base 911 went up around 20% compared to the 2019. If thats followed, the $65k ish range for a C8 would still hold.

Foosh

That is certainly one "strategy" albeit a more risky one, which would drive up supply chain costs at the least. I've tried not to make categorical predictions here, just offer my commentary on what makes more sense based upon my experience in senior management and project management in the aviation industry. Corporate governance structures and decision-making processes generally abhor greater risk scenarios.

In my view, a higher probability, more efficient, and likely more successful strategy is one ME platform with multiple models ranging in price from $70-150K. However, as all gamblers know, probability is a fickle thing. Just because the odds of getting a heads or tails is 50/50, that doesn't mean you won't occasionally toss 10 heads in a row, but as in gambling, by playing probability the house always wins overall.

It's certainly possible for GM to raise the ME start price 30-40% or more, and build a C7.5 along side it. I just happen to think that would be bat-**** crazy, but time will tell.

Telepierre

I would gladly come along with you as I am not a proponent of a price ramp up for Corvette. I am not trying to make a point in my favor.I simply do math of official data and correlate accordingly. I cannot rationally do the same with the numbers you have unless you provide data sources.I could account for an average distribution of discounts but here again official data says Corvette raised prices in MY 19 and offers no discounts other than the 0% financing on selected models.“deep discounts” is rather vague. I bought Corvettes and was able to get the military discount and loyalty discount. It tallied at 11%. Sales tax set me back to 6% off MSRP. What average discount should I apply to realize we are still around 100K (out of pocket) with more than 30% of fleet?To be clear I read crazy stuff on the CF claiming now they are discounting 25%!! I just don’t believe it. Finally, to suggest 1500 138K (CB claim) ZR1s sold is a rounding error masks the fact that those are 1500 tangible study cases that re validate the 49K+ Z06s cases: the more corvette goes up in the bracket the more customers ask for trim levels.. Which brings me to the real point which is also your point: more prices go up the more volume goes down. AgreeWhat about margins though? The less the volume the higher the prices the higher the margins correct? At least Ferrari thinks so…

JoesC5

You can't argue with Porsche's success with having two different platforms(mid-engine/rear engine) with one being twice the price of the other.

Foosh

And you continually keep trying to compare Porsche the brand w/ Corvette a model of Chevrolet. Chevrolet is the appropriate comparison to Porsche with a model lineup quite similar in many ways and actually much broader. Chevy has many different models and platforms. With an ME-only Corvette platform with sub-models at various price ranges, Chevrolet would still offer a high performance FE in the Camaro.

Now you can say there are many models of Corvettes, but the same is true with the 911 with a price range from $100-250K.

jefnvk

I won't argue with two different platforms being an option. I disagree with two different platforms being both branded as Corvettes. The Boxster is not a 911 light, its a Boxster.

The only company I can think of that has done anything remotely like that recently is the Wrangler when the JLs came out, and that was more due to unfulfilled sales orders and the fact those things print money for Jeep. Even then, it was only a few months of overlap

envisi0n91

Agreed. I think this will not be a Corvette but it'll be like a Ford GT competitor. At least that's what I still hope.