Dpriceslc

No. No. No. No.

fyreline

C7pimp

If all of the sudden Ferrari sold the 488 at $70K, almost all people would buy it without giving two-$#!+$ about it being a Mid-Engine car.

The mid-engine placement is really not the issue here. It's the overall daily usability of the car and whether the C8 ME is going to have an acceptable amount of storage space that the Corvette faithful who daily or road trip the car can live with. It's been shown with quite a few different brands of cars that adequate storage space is doable with a rear or mid-engine car. If a few more cubic feet of storage is a deal breaker on whether you buy an already "impractical" 2-seat sports car regardless of engine location then you're honestly ridiculous.

jefnvk

Why is it a FE will sell fine without all that stuff, but an ME will be a flop without it?

You will undoubtedly be able to buy a ME with all of it, spec'd out and up in to R8 price territory, just as you can buy a ZR1 now. And, just like a Stingray now, you will be able to buy one without all the latest supercar gizmos. There is nothing inherent about a ME placement that necessitates any of that any more than a FE does.

And if you can't realize why from a performance aspect, the engine between the wheels is better than the engine hanging in front of the front wheels, I'd suggest you look at nearly every form of high level racing that isn't oval track "stock" cars.

Then again, they might hate the redesign too, and then GM is stuck with a redesign bill and more cars that aren't selling while the ME is flying off the shelves.

I mean, you might bring many buyers into the fold if you went Ford mid-2000s TBird style and made a retro looking Corvette too, but I don't think that is on anyone's radar. Although, that could make a cool cheap roadster...

punky

So the some of the Ben Gay brigade are now predicting an economy Corvette with FE based on a C7 for those who can't accept this degree of change while the overwhelming majority of sports car enthusiasts are anxiously awaiting and lining up for a ME C8. This may be a tough one for this small minority of cavemen to understand but they don't matter, period. Here is another thing for them to chew on, the C8 with mid engine is not picking up where the 4 cylinder Fiero left off 30 some years ago. People where point to the Fiero when the on deck ME C8 Corvette is discussed are doing little more than projecting their own ignorance.

Mr. Peabody

Well I'm one of those who think that there will be both a front engine and mid engine versions for some years to come.

I feel that the ME is being done primarily for racing in an attempt to get more HP to the ground.
I also think that this is going to be Chev's halo car but that it is going to be priced well above $100K. There will be quite a number of folks that can afford a $100 - $150K vette but (IMHO) not the average corvette buyer.

Because I believe in the above .... I think that there is a good business case for continuing production of a lower price FE so that the majority of people wanting to own a corvette won't be priced out of the market. Apparently the production space is available in BG. If the C7 architecture is continued....... the tooling and production fixtures are in existence and probably still in very good condition .... it becomes relatively easy to continue to utilize this sunk cost to maintain as wide a market base for the vette as possible. Not to mention .... to have a chance to see if this radical change is a hit with the buying public.

I look back upon the last time the price of technology DOUBLED the purchase price of a Corvette. In 1990 when the LT5 engine came out for the C4 advertised HP went up by 50% from 250 to 375. That technology doubled the price of the C4 (90 base coupe was $32K but the ZR1 option was an addition $27K) In that first year 3,000 ZR1s were produced the 2nd year that dropped by 50% down to 2,000 units. The next 4 years were less that 500 units each year. The "wealthy" guys who could afford it, went out and bought the latest that Corvette technology could produce but after the initial rush the rest of the corvette market place just couldn't justify the price of the ZR1.

I'm certainly no expert but I've spent my life in the financial management of manufacturing companies in both DoD and commercial market places. Based on all that I've seen over the past 45 years I think that there is a good case for FE Corvette to continue on in production in parallel with ME Corvette.

Your views may differ.......but that's OK

JoesC5

My way of thinking would mean that GM would have four options to handle the Corvette 3 years from now.

1) Both the refreshed FE and the mid engine are successes, so GM continues to build them both, enjoying a larger share of the market.

2) the FE is successful and the ME isn't, so GM keeps the FE and drops the ME.

3) the refreshed FE is a flop and the ME is a success so GM drops the FE.

4) Both are flops, so GM drops the Corvette.

PCMIII

If both are flops, Corvette finally builds an SUV. Altho, that also may be in the works right now.

Rinaldo Catria

GM is continually reducing the number of models it builds. It now faces the likelihood of all electric starting to take substantial share of ICE market share. Why in the world would it do a 180 on its policy of “one model Corvette” and build two gas powered Corvettes when all things point toward them being a bit behind already in the electric car race? Reuss is on the record as saying the C7 is dead. They cant sell the huge inventory of C7’s sitting around for anywhere close to MSRP (ZR1 excluded).. The recent flatbed/hoodup/parked roadside in no-mans-land point to reliability issues of the C8. They best get that resolved. As much as I hate to say this, the C8 isn’t even out yet and GM better be putting considerable effort on the C9 electric Corvette, not see how many FE ICE C7.5 Corvettes they can sell at huge markdowns.

PCMIII

Reuss did NOT say the C7 is dead. He said the C7 ZR1 is the ultimate level of performance Corvette is going to do for the FE.

The ME is the next level of performance for Corvette. With the LT4 and/or LT5, the ME would be a beast, beating everything Porsche has on the market.

JoesC5

Sounds as if you believe the best solution is for GM to immediately start converting Bowling Green into a plant for building electric Silverado's.

BillY2KFRC

People need to look at actual facts and not just wishing there will be a new FE Vette. Now, for 1-2 years will they do some minor tweaks to the Z06 and ZR1 if they continue to produce along side the C8 until the C8 Z06/ZR1 models come out, that's possible. We saw a camo'd Z06 with a ZR1 wing last year which would point to GM working on something... but the next gen car is the ME C8 with a DCT only, like it or not, that's just the way it is.

JerryU

GM is probably spending most of their effort to see how they can maintain their strong sales in SUV's and Trucks.
This is the 2018 data and provides perspective for the ~30,000/year Vette sakes we "worry" about:

• Total sales of all utility vehicles, including large SUVs, totaled 1,295,700, up 7 percent.
• The Chevrolet Colorado had its best year ever, with 134,842 pickups sold, up 19 percent versus 2017.
• Combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and Colorado, and the GMC Sierra and Canyon, rose 3 percent versus 2017 to a total of 973,463 pickups.

GM has sold more pickups in the United States than any other competitor for five consecutive years. Through November, the next closest competitor had sold 821,558 pickups.

I'd Vote for a Vette Pick-up!

Rinaldo Catria

... you are right. He said it is the end....”Video from “The House of Muscle” has Mark Reuss, executive vice president and president of global product and Cadillac, on the record acknowledging the C8 Corvette for the first time. He says, “This is the end of C7. That I can tell you. And more to come, and we are very proud of what’s going to happen on C8,” while speaking to journalists about the 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1”........ admittedly, that can be interpreted in different ways.

Mr. Peabody

Cash Flow.

Telepierre

Semantics. Drop the "new generation" and I vote yes as I do believe there is going to be a concurrent market test period for both refreshed C7s and new C8s.
On the other hand, my belief system for the above was weighted on the perception the ME would have considerable less cabin and cargo space. After seeing the way "BIG" Mark Reuss sits in the C8 and rumors of space for two golf bags...I realize there may be more space in there than at first glance.

Will see and my2c of course..

Zaro Tundov

SUVs make bad roads more comfy and are less likely to sustain damage when they hit potholes. Lots people are now buying SUVs after owning cars with low profile tires that get destroyed every time they hit a pothole.

Sedans do badly on bad roads, but sports cars are terrible, so their sales suffer more than sedans.

GrandSport 2017

I think your right on and this new car will be produced on a second line. It may or may not be a "C8". If this new car is indeed a Corvette then its the most radical redesign ever. No other version had anywhere near this amount of change in one shot. A lot and I mean a lot, of corvette people are not going to like the cab forward design of this mid engine car. Its a big gamble. I'm just not sure if Chevrolet would take that chance on the brand name. If there not careful how they do this then the C7 could be considered the last real Corvettes.
I think its very likely a new platform car and not even a corvette. Maybe its a "zora"?

GrandSport 2017

That makes sense also.

PCMIII

Actually the C7.5 and the ME will be produced on the same line using the skillet system.