JockamoIPA

http://www.autoline.tv/journal/?p=61476

Zora_Vette

This has already been confirmed not to be true. How are they going to build them side by side when the final C7 rolls of the line several months before the C8 production starts?

BIG Dave

Autoline = Just someone with no ties to GM taking a guess.

OP - Autoline states “likely” to build C7 alongside C8. Why did you leave “likely” out of your post’s title?

Jinx

When does C7 production end and when does C8 production start?

JockamoIPA

Dude I'm not a journalist...just passing it on. Don't shoot the messenger.

Autoline may not affiliated with GM but their segment a few weeks ago with the two gentlemen that have a longtime affiliation with Corvette does give them some clout, although I will grant you that it is wild speculation if anything considering it's been announced that the last C7 will be auctioned off.

~Stingray

I don't believe this is true. They are auctioning off the "last" c7. It's kind of hard to auction the last one and still make them.

Foosh

OP is absurd. Watch the video from this morning at BGA. End of C7 production has been confirmed, and while they are not yet ready to announce an exact date, Tadge Juechter said this morning it would be announced "very soon."

Zora_Vette

Final C7 will be made in June, C8 unveiling is in July, it has been speculated that Decmeber will begin C8 production. 6 months for retooling sounds about right specially given the drastic change.

jcp911s

So both production lines will be in operation for a short period.

In the telecom industry this was called a hot-cut... the old system is up and carrying customer load while the new systems is installed and tested. Both run in parallel until the new system is fully debugged, and at some low demand period..(3:00 am Sumday), the new system goes online, and the old one shut down.

Why lose 6-8 weeks of sales shutting the plant down for retooling? It is the 21st Century.

Foosh

NO!!!!! Final C7 will not be built on June 28. Rights to the final C7, which will be a Z06, will be auctioned off at a Barrett Jackson event on June 28. However, the car will not be built by that date.

C7 production could run into the fall and still leave plenty of time for conversion to C8 production by the end of the year. That makes some sense because I'm sure there are a fair number of people wanting to see the new car before they decide on whether to purchase a C7 or wait for the new car.

Some won't like the new car, and that could stimulate a mini-sales boom for the C7 including many custom orders. C6 sales jumped a bit after the C7 reveal. That's part of Corvette 101 . . . there are always old gen loyalists who "hate" the change, and they're still raving here today about the C7.

Watch the video from BGA this morning linked in post #7 above. It's very clear.

Darion

Forgot "Likely" in the title which means they are speculating like everyone else that really doesn't know.

PC

Jinx

Not hard at all, actually:


"I want to make sure everybody understands that car will not have been produced. We are still and will still be producing 7th generation cars for a while now. We haven't determined or announced the last date; that will be coming soon. So this auction will actually occur well before the car is produced, so you're actually buying the rights to the car." -- Tadge Juechter


That said, I don't think overlap between C7 and C8 production will be long, or at least won't represent much C7 volume, if there's any overlap at all.
They might want to build C7 Z06 and ZR1 for a little bit on an evening shift while the day shift gets up to speed on C8... but I think ultimately a second shift will go into producing more C8s at a pace that maintains good build quality.

ToddC7

He most likely probably meant that the C8 FE and C8 ME will be built alongside each other.

Foosh

He said nothing even closely approximating that simultaneous production would occur. Even if it were to occur for a very short period, it's completely irrelevant. The C7 is very near end of production, which has been made crystal clear now in NYC, in BGA today, and in GM press releases.

It's not surprising they are leaving their options open right now. If after the 7/18 C8 reveal, there's a sudden uptick in C7 orders, they'd likely take advantage of the opportunity for more revenue before shutting the line down. I'm sure they have options in their supplier contracts for whatever parts they need for a relatively short period of time.

dkpnkc

I'm just hoping the plant tours will start up again this year. Would be fun to see the C8 being built.

John T

John McElroy (Autoline) is one of the most wired dudes in auto journalism. I would not take him with a grain a salt. He and Peter DeLorenzo (they are friends) know a bunch about "our Corvette thing". I would bet a grand that Peter has seen the actual car.

JoesC5

The only thing I learned from the presentation was that a 70 year old man rides an old decrepit bicycle in New York City so it won't be stolen.
That and the fact that Tadge and the other two found matching shirts at Walmart yesterday.

Corvette#2

I kinda doubt C7 production will last that long. I saw a recent report stating there are currently over 9,000 new C7s still in dealer inventory. And sales for the first quarter of this year are the lowest of any first quarter during the C7's run. Which makes sense, most anyone that wants a new C7 has already got one. I don't think GM wants to produce many more C7s they will likely have to sell for a discount. Sales will really dry up once the C8 is officially revealed. If someone still plans on ordering a new C7 from the factory, I wouldn't wait much longer.

imaposer

It would make no sense to need a second shift to run production for two distinct product lines. They wouldn't be coming down the assembly line C8 after C7, like they can do GMC and Chevy pickup trucks that are just a few cosmetics apart. They would need separate lines. If they had said they were adding 400 more first shift jobs to run production of the new C8, I would think there's a possibility they could continue to make C7s, but as it is a second shift for the same assembly line, it would only make sense that it is to allow more production of a single product.

Asleep@thewheel

Source?

If true, wouldn't C7 orders have already been cut off?