Mikec7z

An interesting thread so far... Please read.

pay attention to those who answer the second question i just proposed.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...he-new-c8.html

tcinla

GM Had to announce the C8 at some point so no matter when they announce, current model would be impacted. Can’t have one without the other BUT I think having the end of production already set minimizes the impact.

Jinx

"Numbers don't lie." Your anecdotes don't add up to much and barely constitute a whisper, no matter how big you puff up your chest.

MsEllie

I would be tempted at 25% off. Would that come to Canada? Of course, I could always buy from a high-volume stateside dealer, wait 6 months, and have it shipped into the Frozen North. You know, 25 off is a big deal when the Canadian dollar is at 75 cents. Plus, we have another 13% for sales tax.
The car Mary is cruising in doesn't have the sexiness of the C7, but we will have to wait and see if there will be sleight of hand.

Tom73

Why would you have to wait 6 months?

Mikec7z

they are the first company to say we will reveal in 3 months, and right now we are not ready to reveal yet.

That in itself is lame. Why not reveal the car today if you are certain it will be ready for reveal in 3 months? Either way, the December production date does not change.

For those of you saying this hype and reveal stuff now is a good idea... then do it... electronics not working does not matter for a car spinning around on a stage while Tadge brags about how great it is.

They would sell more c7's in the next 3 months if they got the c8 reveal over with...

otherwise, anyone logical is going to wait and see what the c8 is all about before they buy a new c7, and see if they should hold their money and wait for the c8 or stay with a c7. And even if a person wants a c7, they still know they will save an extra 10 grand if they wait until after the c8 reveal.

So, again, GM ICED their sales of the c7 for the next 3 months. Wise people will back out of their orders, with the understanding that IF they still want to buy the car 3 months from now after they see the c8... their ordered car will still be sitting safe and sound on the dealers lot, unsold.

I have a 19 sitting as we speak which I ordered in, and chose not to buy, no one is going to buy it... it will still be there after july if i decide I want it.

I bet GM sells fewer this month than they did last month, and even fewer in May and June...

unless they bring in the heavy incentives early and lose more money sooner than later.

Their strategy stinks, and the only people they have on their sides are an army of people who aren't going to buy another new c7 anyway, with the exception of the one fellow above. The rest of you, your words dont matter much.... Your actions do though.... as to my actions. None of us are buying, and i bet the fellow above changes his mind and holds out for a few months after he has another couple days to think about it.

The sales numbers will tell the true story. I'll report back in the next couple months, my buddies have access to the national sales numbers. We will see who is right or wrong, and you guys keep tabs on the incentives

I bet they get better and better on 19's

Jinx

We'll only see what happens, not what would have happened if you were running the show, or the height in inches of the hill of beans the difference would make.

Mikec7z

I have a hunch all c8's are sold out in the first year with little-to-no factory incentives... no matter how or when GM reveals the car.

The only variable up for debate was the thousands of c7s already produced and the thousands they will have produced between April and July... and I think GM chose the worst possible option for its sales this spring/summer.

The c8 will sell itself, no marketing team or screwy timeline will prohibit it from selling once it arrives.

Everyone is patting themselves on the back for the victory that comes later... and its not a victory when you couldn't screw it up at this point if you tried. The engineers built a great car over the last 15 years, and it will be great in ME standards for half the cost of the competition. Its going to sell, no issues.

Not to mention, no first year vette ever has trouble selling.

Its like bragging that you are good at poker when you are dealt a royal flush.

Its a given the next generation corvette will be sold out first year. Congrats. Pat yourselves on the back that you made the sky blue while you were at it.

Selling off the c7's, that takes some intelligence/skill, and GM is on the bottom end of those scales right now.

Porsche makes every one of their cars seem limited at all times... and people pay full sticker and are happy about it...

meanwhile, if GM is asked to make a limited edition car...

and you lay the royal flush in their hand...

"60 years of an FE car, and its over... what do you say we do a limited edition c7 for 2020, and run it from April to July, and then surprise everyone with the c8 at the end of the c7 run, when we sell the last c7 for charity?"

GM- "im not sure 60 years of FE vettes coming to an end is really that big of a deal, i really dont see the point in doing a limited/final edition c7... lets put it to a vote... all in favor of just calling the next few months of c7 a 2019 and making them the most non-limited c7 ever produced as it was a 2 year run, all in favor raise your hand (whole room raises their hand) yeah, see, we dont like limited editions, more 2019's it is... hey, want to makes sure we sell out of c8's in its first year? yeah, have MB and I Tadge drive the c8 around even though we aren't going to reveal it yet. Now if it sells out the first year, we can say it was because we drove around new york and we are smart. Yeah, screw c7 sales.... tell people the c8 reveal is 3 months away... lets see if we can sell zero c7's between now and then, that will make us look really cool when the c8 is sold out, and then we can say, see i told you ME was better than the FE! (an accountant pipes up from the back of the room... "but wont that cause us to lose AT LEAST 25 million dollars by making that choice as it will destroy c7 sales this spring and summer?") Who cares!! I'M MB... AND I'M TADGE... and we are the smartest! And even if we run this company into the ground, tax payers will bail us out of BK! its like unlimited do overs, driving around NY sounds like way more fun!"

You cant make up this level of stupid. You really cant. No Final Edition of the front engine vette?

you genuinely cant make up this level of stupid.

Jinx

Inches.

We don't know that we won't get a small paint-and-stickers run at the end of 2019 -- besides the Drivers Editions -- and then there's that other thing they threw in as a send-off, but I can see why you'd find that inadequate -- but to be a 2020, production would need to last through January 1.

But I'm glad you're enjoying your hobby of being right on the Internet.

BTW, it's 66 (model) years of an FE car. Numbers don't lie.

direct007

Way overthinking on this issue. I just purchased a 2019 Grand Sport. I wanted a new car to enjoy THIS SUMMER, There are points that are being glanced over. The C7 is proven. The major bugs have been worked out and the current car is polished and nice. The first year C8 may have gremlins to deal with as most first year cars do

The C8 won't be available until the winter which realistically means Spring/Summer for most areas of the USA to enjoy it. With current discounts, there will be a minimum $15000 difference in price between today's C7 and the first year C8. (based on the expected $5000 price increase and the fact the C8 will be sold at list price vs the $10,000+ discounts available right now).

The C7 isn't some 2nd rate car that nobody wants. When I was at Kerbeck in Atlantic City this week, there was no shortage of buyers and Kerbeck plans on purchasing many more C7's to get through the time period when the plant shuts down production for the C7 and retools for the C8.

Mikec7z

so everyone here (with the exception of the few who have agreed with me) thinks it makes sense to run a limited edition for "carbon 65" or "drivers editions" or "indy pacecar" but the last front engine corvette in over 60 years...

(66 to be exact so he does not criticize the "over 60" number again)

... nobody thinks it makes sense to run a final edition front engine corvette, and tell people it is the end of the car, perhaps at least 6 months ahead of its death, instead of 1 month advanced warning, when you realize order allocations for C7 are already essentially full into June...

so the people who want "THE LAST FE vette, can't even order one they way they like them because the order bank is already full...

You guys think that was a good marketing plan huh? And would leave customers who like the FE happy?

JDSKY

The overwhelming majority of posts in that thread are potential C8 buyers that are going to wait for the hi-po version and skip the first year altogether. That does not support your argument of GM somehow re-igniting a C7 sales frenzy by launching a 2020 model. Just because this would have suited your specific buying situation does not mean a mass number of buyers would have somehow flocked to a supposed "final edition" C7. Bottom line is GM needs to focus on selling the new car. The C7 has had a good run but that run is over. Get one while you can if a new C7 is what you want.

I'm still considering doing just that.... Largely because I also fall into the category of wait and see how the new ME shakes out in the real world. A new C7 with full warranty is the best way to enjoy the view from the sidelines.

Mikec7z

right.... so instead of capturing all of us who have no interest in a first year c8... but need to renew our warranties and get into a newer car and would love to have "the last c7 ever built AND FRONT ENGINE VETTE EVER BUILT"

GM chose not to.

Had GM announced a limited edition c7 as the FINAL EDITION for the last 6 months of production run, and shown us that before the "c8 reveal date that is 3 months away"...

they would have sold a lot more c7's and also gotten higher prices for them, because people would have ordered them to their desired spec... emotional attachment to the product.

GM did their announcements backwards to say the least

They literally told us the date of the c8 reveal, before they told us about the "end of the c7"

And the end of the c7 announcement came so close to the actual end of the c7, that it does not allow a person to order a car the way they want it, because the order bank is already full until the end.

GM dropped the ball on this big time. They could have had a car that needed no incentives to sell it, and it would be sold out... the limited edition final edition of the front engine.

Its not rocket science.

instead they have all their energy focused on a c8 camo car that, if its performance numbers are impressive, will be sold out for the next 3 years as its higher levels are introduced.

We did not need the NY stunt to make sure c8's sell... we needed a stunt to make sure the c7's sell and a stunt that would have notified us to order our cars the way we want them if we want the last year of FE vette ever built.... and there were plenty of us waiting for the "this is the end" announcement to go out and order the final editions... but GM found it wise to keep that secret.

instead, the c7 order bank is full of dealer orders, who want to earn c8 allocations, and those are c7 cars that the public will steal at discounts of 20 grand off or more, come this fall... because there is nothing special about them, and they weren't built to customer's specs with prices agreed upon before the order.

I swear, you would think this is GM's first rodeo....

to call their c8 reveal process, and their LAST YEAR OF FRONT ENGINE CORVETTE c7 sales process... both very stupid... is an understatement.

Jinx

I'm sorry that GM didn't have the vision to make you a special decal.

Mikec7z

perhaps you missed the part where... WE CANT order 19's, the order bank is already filled until the end by dealers getting c7s to gain c8 allocations, so there will be dealer lots packed full of UNSOLD c7's, which we will obtain at over 20 grand off this fall.

Instead of helping out their dealers sell the remaining 19s that are being built, GM made the worst series of choices they could have ever made, to screw themselves and their dealers once huge rebates have to be applied to the cars since sales are going to freeze up until after the c8 reveal in july.

Its money out of GM's pocket because they have to pay the rebates and the zero percent differences from standard rates.

I'll be fine... ill get a 19 eventually, but i will pay much less for it now since it wont be a limited edition car...

but if GM keeps reasoning the way they currently do, another BK is on the eventual horizon.

To not create a final edition c7 in the USA is literally an indescribable level of stupidity.

They are not smart in basic 101 marketing of overstocked inventory and late model year production, let alone giving customers something special to latch onto who wish to collect cars and keep them forever, and be proud of.

The series of choices GM just made will cost GM OVER 25 million dollars easily, and cost their dealers collectively even more. Frankly it is probably double that number for each, so you are talking well over 100 million dollar failure from poor decision making.

A more collectable car is an 18 carbon 65... instead of the "last front engine vette ever made"... GM made a bigger deal about a carbon fiber package that only started about 10 years ago... than they did about the last 6-3 months of FE corvette production, which started 66 years ago....

instead, they are all just plain 2019's... and there's tens of thousands of them... its nothing special or exciting.

GM just cost themselves and their dealers a fortune.... i can run the math to show you how it is easily over 100 million dollars.... but I will wait until I have the real numbers, come the end of July.

EDIT:
Glad to see you edited your post, so that it looks like im talking to the wind.

You had asked why i dont just run out and order a 19 now... thus I had to explain it all... AGAIN.

The decal is not what matters, the collectable nature and 1 off exterior color is what matters.

Corvette ED

So you think GM drop the ball on C8 and C7. You say it costs GM 25 million to put rebates on C7's cars? Let's say there are 5,000 C7's sitting on lots now and the 5K rebate you said = 25 million you think is bad business? How many 2019 Silverados Pick Ups do you think are sitting on lots? They have up to $10,000 in rebates for this month? Equinox has 21% off in rebates this month which equals up to $8,000 off. Trax has 20% in rebates. GM has 20 times more of those cars sitting than Corvettes.

I am the Corvette manager at a Chevrolet dealership I can tell you this two-thirds of the country have been in winter since November so new Corvettes weren't really selling. Now that the weather is better Corvette action has picked up. I have customers every day coming in on C7 in stock cars. Last week I wrote 4 sold orders for C7's. There is still plenty of interest in C7 just look here at Mike Furman from Criswell, Rick Conti, Kerbeck and other forum dealers.

Every time a new Corvette comes out there are always customers who have to have it and there are others who don't like it. C7 sales will increase for the next few months because now customers know there will be no more front engine Corvette, no more 7 speed, and this is some rebate money.

I am not afraid of C7 inventory, in fact, I asked for more C7's and GM gave more allocations this week. Right now I have more interest in C7's than C8's

mschuyler

Lots of unsubstantiated conjecture here, so here's mine. First of all, no one is going out of business because GM announced the C8. Secondly, every single C7 on dealer lots will be sold. Third, there is no evidence that GM will lose money on the remaining C7s. GM has plenty of bean counters and they deal with known facts rather than guesses. All that will happen is that more dealers other than the classic forum discounters will offer good prices. Do you think Macmulkin loses money on their disounted sales? Neither will anyone else. Fourth, the C7 will still be in demand. That's because the C8 is not for everyone and it will not be discounted initially. People who put a high priority on storage, big front noses, or M7s will still be in the market for the C7 because, after all, they are going away for good. I really doubt of GM looks to this forum for marketing advice, and they shouldn't, because there is no expertise here.

Corvette ED

Where do you come with this? We can't order 19's the order bank is full? GM has not announced final built out for 2019 Corvettes yet? I can order you any 2019 Corvette(except ZR1) you want and have it in 4-5 weeks?

The final edition car you keep crying about how do you know there won't be one? You do know about the Driver series Grand Sports which are like a special car for 2019?

Jinx

I didn't miss the part where you turned yourself and three friends into $25 million.
Consider the possibility that your logic isn't bulletproof so much as your aim is high.

Mikec7z

you guys make it out like 50 or 100 million does not matter... when we are talking about a company who has a track record of running itself into the ground and also asking the Govt to ORDER PRIVATELY OWNED DEALERSHIPS TO CLOSE THEIR DOORS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SALES POINTS TO BRING SUPPLY BACK DOWN, in line with current "demand"... yet they dont make choices to raise that demand, (this last year of c7 is a perfect example)

So don't tell me they are fine, they ruined families livelihood and lives, not just dealer owners, but all the people who worked at those dealerships.

They just laid off THOUSANDS of workers and closed entire factories. THEY ARE NOT DOING WELL OR ROLLING IN THE MONEY. THEY ARE SHRINKING, NOT GROWING. FACT.

Meanwhile porsche, who is the king of limited editions, every car is limited, they are swapping them up constantly, they just TIPPED their entire staff, 25,000 employees including their janitors, 11,000 dollars a piece... run the math on that number please... and let me know when you think you encountered a TYPO or an ERROR. Its not, its real.. and thats money that prosche does not need because they don't know what other car there is left for them to build.

If a person or group of persons lack the IQ to make an extra 50 to 100 million dollars IN A SINGLE YEAR ON A SINGLE MODEL OF CAR for themselves and their dealer networks, and they do this over and over, year after year... bad choice on top of bad choice... it is absolutely the difference between a company staying afloat VS the USA Tax payer being billed to bail them out.

It costs me money, it costs you money. Don't think for a second GM's stupid choices, when they make them, does not affect us all negatively. National deficit equals war with china etc eventually. National deficit was impacted by GM's BK.... and i wont be surprised if they file another one at the rate of bad decisions they are making.

No one had to lift a finger to make the proper decision.. just add a new color of paint to the c7 paint booth, and make an announcement 3 months ago.... that's it.

And that would have told the tale that the c8 production is something they are confident is coming by this fall/winter, when they announce the last c7 will be produced in june or july and every one built between Jan or Feb and July, will be a Final Edition c7/front engine.